Secrets That Kill
by Blufle
Summary: Endowed with the gift of prophecy, a teenage girl attempts to run from her problems and meets up with a group of friends that will change her life forever, but can they teach her to face the past?
1. Chapter 1

**Sorry if this starts out slow, it will develop soon! I have everything figured out...**

**Disclaimer: I do not own DW, Koei does, as always**

Chapter One

Her father had been thrown off his hay cart the day he was returning from his business in Southern China. He suffered a broken neck and died that night. Her mother was kidnapped, then killed three days later. They found her body in a nearby river, and that was that. This was the story that Mei Li had been told as a child, this was the story she grew up with, whether she wanted to believe it or not.

After being orphaned within a week, the six-year-old girl was sent to live with her aging aunt and uncle who owned a farm in the middle of nowhere. Their children having moved away long ago, there was little company for young Mei Li, and boredom came fast.

Now, ten years later, as a sixteen-year-old, Mei Li was more restless than ever before. She wanted to go out and see the world, but her aunt and uncle wouldn't hear of it.

"Of course not, Li!" her uncle shouted at the table. Mei Li had brought up the subject during the family's evening meal.

"But why not?" she shouted back in a fit of rebellion.

"You're only sixteen, still a young'un. There's no way you'd survive."

"But-"

"There's no 'buts' about it. Besides, I need you tomorrow to come to town with me when I take Lei Lei to sell her."

Lei Lei was the oldest cow on the farm. She had stopped giving milk years ago, but the family hoped they could at least sell her for some meat.

Mei Li didn't respond. She had decided to give him the silent treatment, as well as her aunt, even though she hadn't had a word in the conversation yet. The three of them continued to eat the meal in silence.

That night, as the spring breezes blew in and out her window making eerie sounds, Mei Li lay awake on her bed. Angry thoughts buzzed around her head like a swarm of disturbed bees. An owl hooted outside, causing Li to wonder what he was making so much noise about. She got out of bed to look out her window, and thought she saw someone creep across the yard. She blinked, and the shadowy figure was gone. It was just her imagination.

The moon shone down on Li, and she stared back up at it.

"I wonder who else is looking at this very same moon," she whispered to herself. "But from a different part of the world, perhaps many miles from here." She reached up to her neck to finger the antique locket her father had given her for her fifth birthday. It was the only connection she had to them now. She sighed. Feeling an artistic inspiration coming on, she pulled out her sketchpad and took a pencil in hand, but once she settled herself down to draw, she realized there was no way she was going to sketch a picture of the moon without using color. It wouldn't do at all. After carefully placing the sketchpad back in place, she climbed into bed and fell asleep, far more peaceful than she had been a few minutes ago.

That night she was bombarded with an ugly dream. It hadn't been the first of its kind, but it still caused her to toss and turn in her sleep. However frightening it may have been, with the coming of the morning light she had forgotten all about it.

"Come on, Li, we've got to leave now if we're going to get to the market before noon!" Mei Li was sitting at the table eating her breakfast when she heard her uncle call to her from outside. He had already hitched up their horse to the cart and had Lei Lei tied to the side. She would follow along at a steady pace.

"I don't even understand why I have to go with him." Mei Li complained to her aunt before going outside to climb up into the cart with her uncle.

"He's not getting any younger, Li." Her aunt said, smiling understandingly. "As a matter of fact, neither am I." She chuckled. "He just needs you in case he forgets anything, or needs help lifting something."

"Well, he could hire a boy or something," she mumbled to herself.

"You know we can't afford that, Mei Li."

Li blushed with shame. She didn't think her aunt had heard her.

"Bye," she said, half to herself as she hurried out of the house.

"Oh, don't forget to ask your uncle if he took his medicine this morning!"

Mei Li didn't respond. She couldn't even if she wanted to, because she couldn't make out what her aunt had said in the first place.

Mei Li listened as the wooden wheels of the cart rolled along the stone filled path. It was an odd noise, and however much she heard it, she never grew tired of listening to it. She was completely absorbed in her own thoughts when her uncle cleared his throat and started talking.

"I know you're still mad at me for last night," he started off cautiously. "But I know you're birthday is coming up in a couple of weeks and I was hoping we could do something special."

Was this his way of saying sorry? "What kind of 'special' were you thinking of?" she asked.

"Oh, I don't know," he said. "I was hoping you could clue me in on some ideas. Anything you'd like to do?"

"Well," she said, giving it some serious thought. "Isn't the gypsy fair coming into town in three days?"

"Oh, is it?" he asked, pretending he had no idea. He couldn't have sounded enthusiastic even if he wanted to. There was no way they were going to afford the fair, unless Lei Lei sold for an unbelievable amount of money.

"I'm almost positive it is." Mei Li said, starting to get excited. "I've never been to the gypsy fair before. I bet all sorts of interesting people show up," _Including boys, _she thought to herself. Living in a secluded farm had left Mei Li little, if any, of a social life.

"Well, I'll have to talk to your aunt about it,"

"Which basically means no." Mei Li said, her eyebrows knit into a furrow. A dark mood had quickly replaced her previous sunny disposition.

"Mei Li, I did not say it was an impossibility." he said, turning to look at her to show he was serious.

"But you were thinking it,"

"Look, young lady," he said. "I need to concentrate on driving this danged cart, so I don't have time to argue with you. If you're going to be such a problem then maybe we won't do anything for your birthday at all!"

Mei Li, once again, resorted to the silent treatment. There were so many things she wanted to say right now, so many ... but she knew mouthing-off would not do a thing for her situation right now. She was forced to sit in wordlessness while her unvoiced thoughts fed the fire of her rage.

**Once again, sorry there aren't even any real characters in the story yet. But I am SO going somewhere with this, so stay tuned!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Okay so I know that gypsies probably weren't around at the time that this took place, but ... bear with me. Also, this might be slightly historically inaccurate, but I hope you read it anyway, because it's going to get a lot better!**

**Also I got my first review on this story! Yay! Thanks a lot! **

**BlueSun91:Well, I can't give any secrets away about the story, so you'll just have to read and find out what nation is involved!**

Chapter Two

Her uncle hitched up the wagon on a lone tree as Mei Li watched in bitter silence. He quieted down the horse, and untied Lei Lei's rope from the cart and led her quietly to the open-air market that was several yards away. Li trailed behind, becoming suddenly aware of her shoddy appearance and second-hand clothes as they approahced the hustle and bustle of early morning bargain hunters.

"Get your fresh produce! Hand picked yesterday! Known for quality!" shouts were heard from all around as dealers tried desperately to make some profit off the day's merchandise. Mei Li stopped to admire some jewelry, and the man behind the make-shift counter started talking to her.

"You like jewels, eh? Tell you what. You buy one, and I'll throw in this pendant for free. Goes great on any chain you might have lying around at home. Whaddya say?"

"Oh, I'm sorry," she stuttered, blushing. "I was just looking." Of course she had no money to spend on fine things like jewelry. She fingered her locket, as was her habit when she got nervous.

"That's a pretty necklace you got there, missy," said the man. "You looking to sell it?"

"Oh, no, of course not." she said, holding it close. "It was a gift from my father. It's very old."

"Really? Can I have a look-see?" Not waiting for Mei Li to answer, the man asked another question. "It's a locket, isn't it? Does it open?"

"Well, I imagine it did at one point." Li answered. "But it's so old that it's rusted shut. I'm afraid I wouldn't like to try and open it, anyhow, in case it broke."

"Hm, I see," said the man; his way of ending the conversation. Mei Li was about to leave, but the man was desperate for a customer, so he started talking again.

"I hear the gypsy fair is coming to town tomorrow."

"I thought it was two days?" Mei Li responded, suddenly interested.

"Well, two days is when they open up for entertainment. They need time to set up camp though, and they'll be arriving to do so tomorrow."

"Oh," Mei Li said, not knowing what else to say.

"I can see you're planning on going," the man guessed. "Are you sure you don't want to buy a piece of jewelry for the occasion? You know how gypsies always dress up and wear tons of jewels. Well you'd blend right in if you bought some..."

"Sorry, but no," Mei Li said. "I have to go now."

The man muttered something inaudibly, but Mei Li didn't care what he said. She wandered back into the crowd, trying to find her uncle.

She found him a few minutes later, haggling with a short, round man over the price for Lei Lei.

"I tell you, that is my final offer!" The short man shouted.

"I'm selling you a cow that will give you at least three weeks of dinner for yourself, and you're offering me a price that wouldn't even feed my family for three days? I'm sorry, I can't do business this way," said Li's uncle, and he started to walk away.

"Fine, fine," the short man yelled to him. "I'll raise it by 50, but that is my _final_ offer."

He pretended to think about the offer for a minute or two, then stuck out his hand and said, "Deal." He handed the man the rope tied around Lei Lei's neck, and the man fished through his pockets to hand him the money in exchange.

"Pleasure doing business with you," the short man smiled, and Li's uncle nodded in return. After the man left, he turned to Mei Li and said, "Here, take some of this money, would you, and go buy us two loaves of bread and some salt. We're running short."

Remembering that she was still mad at her uncle, Mei Li put on a face and stuck out her hand to receive the money. "Fine," she mumbled, and walked off.

"And don't take too long, Li." He called to her as she sauntered away. "The sun sure is shining and I don't think I can take this heat much longer. Plus, we need to get back to your aunt and make sure she hadn't burned the farm down." he chuckled to himself, and Mei Li rolled her eyes.

Finding the loaves of bread and the salt didn't take Li that long at all. But she was mad at her uncle, and purposely took a long time for the sole purpose of annoying him. _He can sweat like a pig for all I care._ She thought angrily. _And as for the farm, I certainly don't care if it burns down. That'd mean we'd have to move, and I could get away from this boring old place._

Li managed to take up twenty minutes, walking around as she pleased, looking at different merchandise, pretending to examine things for possible purchase. She even haggled with a man over the price of an expensive vase, though she didn't have any money for it, and in the end walked away, pretending that the man's offer was too outrageous.

She finally decided she should get back to her uncle, because she was getting hungry and the ride back home wasn't going to be any shorter the longer she took. She started heading back in the direction in which her uncle was waiting, holding the loaves and salt in her hands.

When she neared where her uncle had been waiting, she noticed a large crowd gathered around one spot. Confused, she walked over and tried to push her way through to see what all the commotion was about.

"He was just standing there, perfectly fine when I suddenly saw him start to sway, and then he just fell over!" A woman that Li did not recognize was recounting what she saw to the person standing next to her. Mei Li paled at hearing this. Images started flashing through her mind... her uncle lying on the ground, a crowd surrounding him, she rushing to his side only to find that he was dead.

"What's going on?" she asked a tall man.

"An old man just fell over for no apparent reason." He said.

"Is he okay? What was his name?"

"Sorry, I haven't -"

Mei Li didn't bother to wait around for his answer. She started pushing through the crowd, the inevitable sense of doom growing stronger with every passing second.

"Move, move!" she said as she forced her way to the man. She broke through to him, and saw her uncle lying on the ground. And he wasn't breathing.

She knelt beside him and touched him. He didn't respond. She put the bread and the salt down next to him, held his hand and started crying.

"I'm sorry... I'm so sorry." she said. "I wasn't really mad at you, I was just having a bad day, is all. I didn't mean it. I don't have to go to the fair if we can't afford it."

"Dear," a lady said, trying to get her to stand up. "Why don't you come with me? The authorities will be here any minute and -"

Mei Li wasn't listening to her. "I brought the bread and the salt like you asked. Come on, get up. We have to make sure Aunt didn't burn down the farmhouse, remember? Get up, please, just get up!" She started sobbing uncontrollably, unable to talk anymore. The lady tried to help her up again, but Li pushed her away. "I knew it," she muttered. "I knew this was going to happen and I didn't even do anything about it. It's all my fault. I shouldn't have left him alone for so long."

"It's not at all your fault, now come along," the lady finally got Li to stand up. "Look, the authorities are here ... they'll take care of everything, okay? Now, tell me where you live and I'll get you home to your family."

Mei Li said nothing, but silently led the lady back to the lone tree where the cart was still tied up, the tears running down her face and onto her clothes. All she could think of were those images of her uncle, the crowd ... the same images she had seen in her dream last night. And she remembered that this had not been the first time something like this had happened.

**Ooh, exciting, no? Since even _I'm_ excited to see the progress of this story, I'll try to update asap. Please continue to R&R!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Well here's chapter three... enjoy! **

**BlueSun91: I tried to make this chapter a little longer! Lol yeah I know you're the only reviewer so far, but thats okay.**

Chapter Three

_A man riding on a wooden cart. A shadowy figure hiding in the back ... the driver was unaware of his presence. But what was he doing there in the first place ... ? _

_A woman arguing with a man. The man becoming angry, the man lunging toward the woman ... but what became of the woman? _

Mei Li was haunted by her memories. Memories of dreams, or were they dreams of memories? Her six-year-old self had made no sense of these dream-like memories, but her sixteen-year-old self was wallowing in the mystery and pain they left behind.

She suddenly found herself sitting at the table in her own home with her aunt. Her aunt's eyes were red with crying. The lady who had brought Mei Li home was also sitting at the table, talking in a comforting tone to the both of them.

"My husband is with the authorities, ma'am. Some experts examined the body, and they concluded that he died of a heat stroke." She paused, letting the information sink in. "I'm sorry to be the one to tell you of this. Your daughter seems to be very shaken up by it."

"My daughter?" Li's aunt asked, confused. Her daughter had moved out of the house years ago and had a family of her own already. "Oh, you must mean Mei Li." She said, motioning towards the silent girl. "She is my niece."

"Oh, I see," said the lady. She took a deep breath. "Once again, I'm sorry. Oh, here's the money he was holding when he collapsed." She withdrew some bills from her pocket and laid them gently on the table before Li's aunt. "If you need anything, you can always come to me." With that she took her leave.

Silence ensued, except for the meowing of the farm kitten. Mei Li sat in the same position, expression unchanging. The more she thought about her dream the guiltier she felt. Finally, she could hold it no longer.

"Aunt," she burst out. "It's all my fault."

"Oh, no..." her aunt started to say.

"But it is. I left him alone in the heat for too long. If I had come back sooner, we could have started going home and none of this would have happened."

"No, dear, then he would have just collapsed on the ride home, and the cart probably would have crashed. Where would I be then, without him or you?" She sighed before continuing. "Besides, I was the one who forgot to remind him to take his medicine this morning. He's usually so good in the heat. Without his heart medicine, though, I'm sure he stood no chance."

"But there's more," Mei Li whispered. Her aunt stared at her, waiting for her to continue.

"Last night I had a dream. And, in it, he died. Just the way he did today. And I rushed to him, and there was nothing I could do ... I had forgotten about it until seconds before I found him dead, but I still knew. I still knew it was going to happen and I didn't do anything about it."

Her aunt stared at her with a pale face. After a long pause, she said, "When did you start talking like this again, Mei Li?"

Mei Li stared back at her. "What do you mean, 'again'?"

"Well, you were very young. I suppose you don't remember." She paused, but then abruptly continued, not allowing Mei Li to say anything. "But that's in the past. It doesn't matter anymore." She stood up from the table, taking on a sense of duty. "Come along, now. I suppose we ought to continue chores around here as usual, at least until the funeral." Her aunt started to walk away. Mei Li knew she was trying to be strong, but the young girl noticed a single tear fall from her face before she disappeared into her bedroom.

Mei Li lay in her bed, examining her locket. She wondered if it said anything on the inside. A vague memory came back of her, at five years, opening the locket and asking her father what it said. He laughed and started to read. But she couldn't make out the words he was saying. Very delicately, she placed her fingers on either side and started to pull apart. It didn't budge.

Her thoughts went back to the day's incident; her uncle dying. Despite the facts and statistics, despite what her aunt had told her, Mei Li could not help but feel an overpowering feeling that his death was her fault. There were so many ways in which she could have prevented it. And to think she even knew it was going to happen, but she let something so important as life or death slip from her mind.

She was suddenly filled with the desire to move. Not just to get up and walk across the room, or even to start jumping up and down, but to move away from it all. To get away from the death she'd caused. Besides, for her aunt, she was just another mouth to feed. She'd probably end up being the cause of her aunt's death, too. She'd always wanted to go out and see the world ... why wait any longer?

She got up off her bed and took the blanket that lay on top of it. Gathering up some clothes, she placed them in the blanket along with some personal necessities, and her sketchpad and a pencil. Leaving the blanket in her room momentarily, she snuck out to the table, where the money her uncle had earned from Lei Lei was still sitting as the lady had left it. She took all of it, hoping her aunt wouldn't mind. Returning to her room to wrap up all the belongings she was taking with her, she paused, thinking about where she would run to. An idea crossed her mind, a clever one, but she decided to wait until night to execute the plan. But not before hiding her rolled up blanket in the barn so that she could make a quick getaway.

Her hands involuntarily reached up to toy with her locket. Was she really going to run away? _Yes_, a voice in her head answered. _You have to. You can't stay here; you killed him. What is left for you here, anyway?_ Nothing, she answered, absolutely nothing. The tears started flowing from her eyes, and she lay down on her pillow and cried herself to sleep.

She woke with a start. Something had thumped. She looked around in the dark with caution, waiting for something to move, or another noise to erupt from the night. Nothing happened.

She sat up from her awkward position in bed and looked around. It was dark alright, maybe about two o'clock in the morning. She must have slept straight through dinner, and her aunt didn't have the heart to wake her up. Oh well, it was better this way. Since she had gotten a few extra hours of sleep, now she was wide awake and alert enough to make her move.

Tiptoeing out of her bedroom and through the house, she exited by use of the back door, toward the barn. She went to where she hid her blanket full of belongings, pleased to see that it was still there, untouched. By use of some rope, she tied the blanket together and looped it around her shoulder.

_Should I take the horse?_ She thought to herself. _No, he'd only make more noise. Besides it'd probably be easier for someone to track me if I had a big horse with me._

The silver moon shone down on her, wishing her luck as she ran in the soft mud toward town ... toward where the gypsies would be making camp in a few hours.

She knew they would be there by the time she arrived. Though it took her several hours, and she was exhausted by the time she reached their camp, she was glad she made the decision. It was about six thirty in the morning now, and no doubt her aunt was already up and worrying about her. But she would be safe with the gypsies.

They had already set up and were probably inside their caravans, sleeping. She knocked on one of them, waiting for a reply. A few minutes later, some rustling was heard, then the door opened a crack.

"What do you want?" the woman at the door asked.

"If you don't mind, I'd like to travel with you until you could drop me off somewhere." Came Mei Li's reply.

"Where?"

"I don't know, anywhere far away from here."

"How much do you have?"

"Not much, just this bundle." She said, holding up her blanket for the woman to see.

"No, I mean, how much in payment? We're not just going to take you somewhere for free."

"Oh, um, hold on a second." She fished through the blanket, pulling out a couple of coins she had saved and stored in her dresser at home. She decided it probably wasn't wise to spend all her money at once, so she kept the bills from her uncle hidden for the time being.

"This much," she said, holding out her palm to show the woman. The woman eyed it, and said, "That'll get you about two hours from town."

"Two hours?" Mei Li gasped. "I need to be at least two days from here! Preferably even farther, maybe two weeks from this town!"

The woman scoffed. "To get two weeks from this town with us gypsies would cost you a fortune. But hey, we need to make a living, don't we?"

"You get enough money from your shows, woman." Mei Li said bitterly.

The woman ignored her last comment, and instead focused on Mei Li's locket.

"What's that shiny piece of metal you got hanging from your neck there?"

Mei Li backed a step away. "It's a locket, that's all. And I know what you're thinking, you can't have it. It's special."

The woman shook her head and feigned disappointment. "Pity. That would have gotten you at least two weeks from this town." She started to close the door.

"Wait," Mei Li said, reconsidering. "You'd take me with you for two weeks if I just gave you this locket and the coins?"

"Not even the coins, missy. Just the locket." The woman said, opening the door full length.

Mei Li thought about it. It was her only connection to her father. He had given it to her for her fifth birthday, it was special. It may not have been worth much money, but it had a sentimental value. But then again, the gypsy was willing to take her away, far away, for such a small price. _It's just a piece of metal, like the gypsy said._ Mei Li told herself. _It's for the better._ She felt like she was giving away a piece of herself as she undid the chain from around her neck and handed it over to the gypsy. The woman snatched it up and started examining it, then Mei Li.

"How old are you, anyway? You look a little young to be running away from home."

"I'm eighteen, if you're dying to know," Mei Li lied. "But why should my age matter? You got your payment."

"You can't fool me. You're not a day past sixteen."

"These coins say I _am_ eighteen." Mei Li said, holding out the coins she had previously offered the gypsy. The woman eagerly accepted, and stood out of the way of Mei Li's entrance. "Welcome aboard." She said with a sweeping motion of her arms.

The woman led Mei Li to a small room in the back of the caravan. "You knocked on the right door. I used to have this whole caravan to myself, until you came. You can have this room. Mine's the bigger one near the front. All the other caravans have at least three people in them." Mei Li sat down on the cot in the room and put her blanket down next to her.

"Thank you," Li said. "My name is Mei Li, by the way."

"Cai Lang," answered the gypsy woman. "And remember, Mei Li, you're only with us for two weeks, whether we're moving or not."

"What?" cried Mei Li. "You said you'd take me two weeks _out of town_!"

"Did I?" Cai Lang answered casually. "Oh well. You'll have to make due with what you get." She paused before she left the room. "By the way, there are two other people staying with us gypsies. They're supposed to get off in two days, though. They're much older than you, though; early twenties."

"Wait," Mei Li said. "Aren't you doing a show here for two days? Wouldn't that mean that they're just going to get off in this town?"

"I guess so," Cai Lang shrugged. "Whatever, it's not my problem."

Mei Li suddenly realized it was _her_ problem. She couldn't stay in this town for two days, not even two hours would be safe! Everyone would be out looking for her, and the gypsy caravan is probably the first place they'd look. What was she going to do?

**What _is_ Mei Li going to do? Who are the two other people staying with the gypsies, and why are they there? They will be familiar faces, I promise you that!Find out in the next chapter!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Well, here is the long awaited chapter four! Long awaited, as in, there are actually real characters in this chapter.  
****  
BlueSun91: No worries about the typos in your reviews! I understood what you were saying. Thanks for being sucha faithful reader and reviewer!**

Chapter Four

Mei Li awoke the next morning and looked around, at first unaware of her surroundings. She was in a small room with a cot and a bundle of her belongings. _Oh yes_, she thought to herself._ I ran away from home_. She felt the first pangs of regret as she realized there would be no aunt to wake up to and hug good morning, no horse to feed, no daily chores to do. Even though she wasn't particularly fond of that last one, they were and had been part of her daily life for almost as long as she could remember.

Remember ... thinking that one word made her realize she had a dream last night. A dream about a man she'd never seen before in her life. He was a funny little fellow, and he had been riding on a horse. Of course, as her other worldly dreams often did include death, so did this one. The man ended up dying because he was riding the horse. But what the horse had to do with it, Mei Li had no idea. Even though Mei Li wasn't sure if this was another future predicting dream or not, she decided to commit it to memory, so she could warn the funny man when she met him, if she ever did.

Rummaging through her blanket, Mei Li took out a brush and started pulling it through her long, straight hair. After changing into a new pair of clothes, she bundled her things back up and opened the door to find the caravan empty.

She wandered outside and saw many gypsies busy at work. Whether they were setting up some sort of show, practicing their act, or just eating breakfast, everyone was doing something. Cai Lang walked past her and realization hit Mei Li.

"Wait!" she cried. Cai Lang turned around and gave her an impatient look. Li continued, "We can't stay here for two days."

"Oh, yes we can," Cai Lang responded.

"But I live not far from here. If we stay, my aunt might find me here. This is probably the first place she'll look..." Mei Li trailed off, seeing that she was getting no sympathy from the gypsy woman.

"Well, kid, you should have thought about that _before_ you ran away." She turned around and kept walking, but not before calling over her shoulder, "These things do take some planning."

"I did plan," Mei Li muttered to herself. "Just not very well, I guess." She walked over to where a young woman was eating breakfast, an angry feeling wallowing in the pit of her stomach. Watching the woman made her find that she was very hungry.

"Um," Mei Li wasn't sure how to ask her, but she wanted some food and needed to know where to find it. The young woman seemed to read her mind.

"It's over there on that table, buffet style." She answered, picking up a fruit and delicately biting into it.

"Oh thanks," Mei Li said. She walked over to the table and picked up some of the food, then brought it back to the table where the young woman was. Once more glance, and Mei Li noticed that this woman wasn't dressed like the other gypsies. In fact, she wasn't dressed like a gypsy at all.

Trying to start a conversation, Mei Li asked, "Are you one of the other guests?"

"If by 'guest' you mean I paid the gypsies to take me somewhere, then yes, I am a guest."

"So, where are you headed?"

"A place called Wei." She answered. She raised an eyebrow and turned to look at Mei Li. "Why is someone as young as you with the gypsies?"

"Oh, it's a long story." Mei Li cleared her throat and continued talking after taking a bite of food. "How far away is Wei? I was wondering if maybe I could go with you, since I don't really know where I'm headed."

"You certainly do ask a lot of questions. And of all the things to inquire you didn't even ask my name."

"Sorry," Mei Li said. This woman was rather straightforward. "What's your name? I'm Mei Li."

"Zhen Ji," the woman answered. "And Wei is only two days from here."

"Hm," Mei Li frowned. "That wouldn't do at all. I need to go farther." She paused. Then again, it was the only other place she could think of to go. Maybe Wei wasn't so bad after all. "Why are you going there?"

"Me and another person are defecting from under the rule of a man named Yuan Shao. He was entirely too annoying. She raised another bite of food to her mouth. "Our services will be much more appreciated in Wei, under Cao Cao, I'm sure."

"Who's the other person you're with?" Mei Li wondered aloud.

"Zhang He,"

At the mention of his name, the man seemed to appear from nowhere.

"Yes, I am here," he announced, sitting down next to Zhen Ji.

"Yes, I can see that," Zhen Ji answered, not amused. "Go get me another pear, would you?"

"Get it yourself," he answered.

"Just get me the freakin' pear, Zhang He!" She demanded in her most threatening voice.

"Fine! Fine, I'll do it!" He said. "No need to be so cranky. You are obviously not a morning person." He took his time going back to the buffet table.

Mei Li held in a giggle. "So how are you two related? Marriage? Dating? ... Just friends?"

Zhen Ji made a face. "Do we_ look_ like we're dating?"

"Well, you sure yell at him a lot." Mei Li observed.

Zhen Ji smiled at that comment. "I suppose so." was all she said for a second or two. "But no, the only connection we have is that we both used to work for Yuan Shao and now we're both going to Wei."

"Ah," Mei Li said, ending the conversation for the time being.

Zhang He returned carrying a pear for Zhen Ji as well as his own breakfast. He gracefully placed the fruit in front of her and bowed, saying, "Your pear, oh most high ruler of the world." Zhen Ji just glared at him.

"And who might you be?" Zhang He asked, as if to no one, since he didn't even look at Mei Li as he asked the question. She paused for a second, trying to figure out if he was talking to her, but whether or not he was, she answered anyway.

"I'm Mei Li. I just got here early this morning. Nice to meet you."

"The pleasure is all mine."

"So," Mei Li said, clearing her throat. "Zhen Ji tells me you're going to Wei."

"Zhen Ji has told you correctly."

"That's ... nice." Li said, unsure of what else to say.

"Lovely, yes," was all he said in reply.

"But Wei is also two days away," she said, finally understanding how she could make this predicament work for her advantage. "And Cai Lang has told me that you only have two days left of traveling with them."

"Yes, so it works out perfectly," Zhen Ji said. "Why does it matter to you?"

"Cai Lang also told me that those two days count whether we're moving or not." Mei Li said, and she couldn't help but smile. If she played her cards correctly, they would be on the road today, instead of camped out in this town. "And the gypsies just so happen to be doing a show here for two days in this town."

Zhen Ji paused as she put two and two together. "So they'll tell us to get off their caravan before we reach Wei? They can't do that to me!" She turned to Zhang He in a fit of rage. "Tell them to take us to Wei! Make them do it!"

Zhang He remained calm despite the fact that Zhen Ji was going overboard. "Don't get so excited, Zhen Ji, you'll mess up your hair." Mei Li wasn't sure if he was joking with her or not. "I'll get those gypsies to take us to Wei, you'll see."

"How are you going to go about that, hm?" Zhen Ji questioned, obviously not convinced.

"I have my ways," he said, getting up from the table and sauntering away. Zhen Ji only sighed in exasperation after he was out of earshot.

"Well, nice talking to you," Mei Li said, getting up from the table before Zhen Ji could say anything else. She didn't want to get on this woman's bad side.

Catching up to Zhang He, she began. "I can't stay in this town for two more days, either. I live nearby, so the longer I stay here the more of a chance my aunt has of finding me here. And I only just ran away from home today!"

Zhang He laughed. "Don't worry your pretty little head. I'll get those gypsies moving."

"Isn't it money that they want, though?" Mei Li suggested, trying to help.

"Exactly what I was thinking. All I have to do is offer them an amount larger than what they would profit here from one of their shows. Shouldn't be too hard."

"I don't know," Mei Li said. "Sounds like you'll have to scrounge up a lot of money to do that."

"Let's just say that when we left Yuan Shao, we weren't exactly begging for money on the streets. Specifically speaking, Zhen Ji's loaded."

"Not too hard to believe." Mei Li said under her breath.

"How long are you on the caravan for?"

"Two weeks," Mei Li answered.

"How in the world did you get enough money to pull that off?" Zhang He asked in surprise.

"Oh, I only gave her a few coins. But I also had to hand over a locket of mine."

"A locket, hm. Gyspies _are_ suckers for beautiful things." He paused. "But then again so am I."

Mei Li chose to ignore that last comment and pushed the conversation in a different direction. "And it was such a nice locket, too. Something my father had given me for my fifth birthday."

"Then why did you give it up to the gypsies?" He asked in disgust.

"I need to get away from here. You have no idea." She sighed. "But maybe I would have rethought my decision if I knew it was going to cost me my locket."

Zhang He considered the subject, then started speaking again, "Well, I think it's about time I go and pay those gypsies to get a move on." He started walking towards Cai Lang.

"Cai Lang, my beautiful blossom," Mei Li heard him say. "I have an interesting proposition."

Li couldn't help but laugh. He certainly was an interesting person. He fit right in at the gypsy caravan.

About an hour later, Cai Lang was heard yelling to all the gypsies, "Pack up! Start loading up the caravans! We're moving out!" The other gypsies didn't question why; they started obeying Lang without hesitation.

Mei Li walked over to Zhen Ji. "Gotta hand it to Zhang He." she said. "He sure got us moving fast."

"Yes," Zhen Ji said, obviously in a better mood. "He is strange, and sometimes he can annoy the heck out of me, but I can't help but love the little nutcase. He's like a brother to me."

Mei Li nodded. She had taken a liking to both of these runaways.

Just as Zhen Ji started walking away to her caravan, Zhang He turned up behind Mei Li, fingering something in his hands that he quickly hid in his pocket. Mei Li didn't have the chance to see what it was. She would have asked, but Zhang He started talking as soon as Zhen Ji exited her caravan, sat down, and started playing her flute, her back facing the two watching. She was just far enough away to be out of earshot.

"Such a beautiful scene," Zhang He sighed, taking into consideration the nature surrounding Zhen Ji. "I wish I had a painting of it, so I could take it out and look at it whenever I wanted to."

"That could be arranged," Mei Li said. Without saying anything else, she ran into her small room in Cai Lang's caravan, and came out with her sketchpad and a pencil. She sat down in a nearby chair and started sketching.

"You're an artist?" Zhang He said, obviously pleased. "Wonderful!" He sat down next to her to watch her work in progress. A second later he suggested, "You better draw Zhen Ji first, you don't know how long she'll be there."

"Good point," Mei Li said, and switched her focus to Zhen Ji. "Candid pictures are always so much better than ones where people pose."

"Mhm," Zhang He agreed, watching Zhen Ji play. Mei Li glanced up at Zhang He, watching him watch the flute player with a soft expression on his face. She quickly got back to her drawing before he could catch her looking at him. _He likes her, doesn't he..._ was the first thought that came to mind. Whether or not this was true, Mei Li kept quiet and continued drawing.

**Does he like her? Hm, you'll have to keep reading to find out. It might not even be relevant to the story! Mei Li is sure to have many more adventures though ... this story's just getting started! Let's see if I can keep up my record of one new chapter a day. Hopefully five will be up tomorrow!**

**There are sure to be a lot more twists and turns, just to let you know.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five is up! Sorry if this one isn't as good or seems rushed, but I wrote it really late last night because I wanted to get it done before today. Hope you like it!**

Chapter Five

_Mei Li looked around. She was in a dark shed, and her head was throbbing. She tried to move, but to no avail; she had been tied up! A shadowy figure emerged from the darkness and started coming closer, closer, his arms reaching out to grab her..._

"Wake up already!"

Mei Li felt arms grab her shoulders and shake violently. She opened her eyes to see Cai Lang staring back at her.

"Wh-what?" She asked, the light bright as she blinked to get used to it.

"Come on. It's already nine o'clock in the morning and you're still asleep. Everyone around here pulls their weight, even the guests." Cai Lang threw a towel at her and explained. "We're stopping by a river today, so here's something to wash yourself off with."

Mei Li almost fell off the cot as the caravan wheel rolled over a rock. _Oh, yes, we're moving again, I forgot._ She thought to herself. This, however, made her happy. She was already one day away from her own town, and two days away from Wei, which is where she would be going with Zhang He and Zhen Ji. Or would she? She was still uncertain about the decision, because Wei wasn't nearly as far as she would have liked to gone. It was also not worth giving a locket away for, a locket that had bought her two weeks on the gypsy caravan.

She dressed herself and went to a window in the caravan to watch as the world rolled by. Grass, trees, clouds, the sky ... none of it was new to her. She'd seen all this at home; she wanted to see something new.

Mei Li wondered what her aunt was doing right now. No doubt worrying about her. Maybe making plans for her uncle's funeral, maybe doing some chores around the farm. Whatever it was that she was doing, she was probably lonely. Li began to wonder if she ever should have run away in the first place. Her thoughts were interrupted when Cai Lang burst into her room again.

"Hey, something's gone missing and I know you're the culprit."

"What are you talking about?" Mei Li burst out. "I didn't steal anything of yours!"

"No, I know it was you because -"

"You're the one with the little gypsy friends! It was probably one of them! You gypsies aren't exactly known for your honest qualities."

"Look, you little brat, I'm the one in charge of the caravan here, and I can throw you out any time I feel like it! Now 'fess up or I'll -"

"Whatever it is you're accusing me of stealing, I didn't take it!"

Cai Lang was about to throw another insult in Li's direction, when the caravan came to a halt and both of them were thrown to the floor due to the impact. Cai Lang cursed and stumbled to her feet.

"What is going on out there?" She yelled.

"Ma'am, we've reached the river." One of her lackeys called back to her. Cai Lang started yelling some more, but Mei Li wasn't listening. She was mad that Cai Lang would even think of accusing her of stealing anything. She was completely innocent! She ran outside with her towel, hoping to wash off some of the anger in the stream, when she bumped into Zhang He.

"Good morning," he said cheerfully.

"No, not good morning," she grumbled back.

"What's the matter?"

"Cai Lang says I stole something. And you know, I don't even know what it is. But I sure as hell didn't take it."

Zhang He's eyes danced with amusement. "I'm sure you didn't. Now, go have breakfast or something and cool yourself off." He seemed in a hurry to get rid of her.

Mei Li took his advice and went off to get herself some breakfast. After eating, she did feel a little better, and she snuck off to a secluded part of the river to wash up. The cool water against her bare skin did wonders, and she came back in a completely different mood. She had decided to ask Cai Lang what all this stealing business was about, and they could discuss it like civilized people.

She started walking back to where the caravans were presently camped, only wrapped up in her towel, for she was still dripping wet. She saw Zhang He and called his name. He came walking over.

"Have you seen Cai Lang? I decided to talk to her about this whole stealing thing. You were right, breakfast and the river did help cool me off. Now where is she?"

"Um, no, why don't you go get dressed first?" He said. "You know, why don't you just go ... somewhere ... else, um, for the time being and I'll tell you when I see Lang, eh? Okay buh-bye!" He hopped off before Mei Li could say anything. But she was in such a good mood, all she could do was shrug and walk off to her small room in Cai Lang's caravan to get dressed.

When she was done fixing herself up, she walked back outside to see Zhang He waiting for her.

"You know, I fixed your problem," he said before Mei Li could even say hi. "You don't have to talk to Cai Lang anymore, so everything's just peachy."

"Okay -"

"So have you decided if you're coming to Wei or not?" he asked, obviously trying to change the subject.

"Actually, I have been thinking about it. And I think it's better for me to be as far away as possible from my aunt, and that town. Wei is just too close for me to feel comfortable."

Zhang He looked crestfallen. "Are you sure you don't want to come? We could cover for you, you know..."

"I know," she said. "And you and Zhen Ji are really nice. But I guess ... I don't know. I just feel like I don't belong there."

"I see," he said.

"But it was really nice meeting you."

"Hey, we're not leaving yet." He said, smiling. "You don't have to say good bye until tomorrow."

"I know," she said, smiling back. "But it really_ was_ nice to meet you. You and Zhen Ji are practically the best friends I've ever had in my life." She paused, thinking about what she had said. "That sounds really pathetic. But I grew up all alone on a farm, so I never really had any friends besides the farm animals."

"I make friends with animals, too," he said. "Especially the butterflies. They're the prettiest to look at."

Mei Li started laughing so hard that tears started falling from her eyes. When Zhen Ji approached, it was a strange scene indeed.

"Okay, Li is practically dying and Zhang He is just standing back and watching. I think I'll just go and not ask any questions -"

"No, Zhen Ji, she's laughing at me." Zhang He explained.

"I laugh at you all the time," Zhen Ji said. "You are a pretty funny guy. Either that or just weird." She said, poking him in the arm.

"He ... he ... he ..." Mei Li couldn't stop laughing enough to finish her sentence.

"He makes friends with butterflies?" Zhen Ji guessed. Li laughed even harder for a reply. "Yes, I knew that." Zhen Ji said. "I actually laughed quite hard when I first found out, too."

"Well, I'm glad to see that I amuse you so," Zhang He said. "But if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go talk to one of my real friends who doesn't laugh at me. A butterfly." He said, and Li could tell by the look in his eye that he wasn't mad at all for her laughing. He was just playing along.

"Whew," Li said, once she calmed down from laughing so hard. She wiped her eyes and rubbed her face. It was tense from all the laughing she had done, and her stomach muscles hurt a lot.

Later that night, after the fireflies had come out for the evening, and the stars had come to join them, Mei Li sat in her caravan all alone, remembering the moment that had made her laugh so hard. She had made such good friends already, and they were leaving tomorrow. It always seemed that no matter who she befriended or what became of them, they were destined to only be present in her life for a short time.

She sighed, looking up at the moon as she often did when she felt sad or depressed. After Zhen Ji and Zhang He got off the caravan tomorrow at Wei, she would be stuck with Cai Lang and the other gypsies for twelve days, and who knows what else they'd accuse her of during that time. She observed the sky and started making a wish on a star. _Star light, star bright, first star I see tonight..._

Okay so it wasn't the first star she saw. But she hoped the wish would work anyway.

_... I wish I may, wish I might, have the wish I wish tonight._

She closed her eyes and wished that someday, somehow, she would find a place to call home with people she could call her family. A family that wouldn't die because of her.

Maybe it was because she still had the funny memory of Zhang He and the butterflies still floating around her mind. Maybe it was because she was finally out exploring the world like she'd always wanted to. Or maybe it was because she knew deep in her heart that her wish would come true. But whatever the reason, Mei Li went to bed with a smile on her face. And that night, she didn't have any horrible dreams.

"Well, we are making pretty good time," Mei Li awoke to Cai Lang obviously having a conversation with somebody. "I'm thinking we'll be there in another hour or so."

_Be there?_ Mei Li thought to herself as she groggily sat up in bed and rubbed her eyes._ But that can only mean ..._ Her eyes shot open. No! They were going to reach Wei in about an hour! One more hour to go and she'd be all alone.

She jumped out of bed, still in her pajamas, and came rushing out to find that Zhen Ji wa the one Cai Lang was speaking to. Both of the women stared at her, waiting for an explanation.

"You're - you're leaving in an hour?" Mei Li said in surprise.

"Well, yes, we'll reach Wei in about that time." Zhen Ji explained.

"But you can't go. Not so soon." She said, her shoulders dropping to a depressed slump. "I only just started becoming friends with you."

Zhen Ji's face crumpled up into a sympathetic expression. It was the first time Li had seen her look like that, and it made her want to cry, knowing that not only would she miss Zhen Ji, but Zhen Ji would actually miss her back.

"I'm sorry, but we can't possibly stay on this caravan any longer. We're running out of money and there's no way the gypsies would let us travel with them for free."

Cai Lang shrugged. "Like I say, we gotta make a living."

Zhen Ji continued. "You're always welcome to come with us to Wei, you know."

"I know," Li said. "But I can't, you know that. They'll be looking for me."

"I understand." Zhen Ji said. "I'll go wake Zhang He up." She said, and walked out of the caravan. Mei Li had only just noticed that they were stopped, probably for breakfast.

Once Zhen Ji had left, Cai Lang cleared her throat. "I'm not one for sentimental moments like this, but, uh, sorry for blaming you about stealing ... well you know."

"It's okay." Mei Li said, the words automatically pouring forth from her mouth.

"Zhang He explained the whole thing to me. So, sorry again."

Li's head shot up at that last comment, but Cai Lang had already left the caravan. What did Zhang He know? What did he need to explain? She decided to forget about it for the time being and ask him when she was saying goodbye to them as they left for Wei.

An hour later, Mei Li was choking back tears as she hugged Zhen Ji and then moved on to hug Zhang He goodbye as well.

"I'm going to miss you," Zhang He said.

"At least you still have the butterflies." Mei Li said, and she couldn't help but smile. He actually laughed and agreed.

"We don't have all day." Cai Lang said, getting impatient. One mushy moment was enough for her.

"Sorry," Mei Li said.

"Hey," Zhang He said, getting Li's attention. "I still have that lovely picture you drew for me. You'll have to visit and draw me some more."

"You got it," she said.

Li strained to watch as Zhen Ji and Zhang He, holding their belongings, walked off toward a big town. Wei. Mei Li wondered if she would ever get to see what it looked like close up. _But for now, she'd have to keep going. Where will the gypsy caravan take me next?_ She thought to herself.

"Alright, people, enough with the tears and the goodbyes," Cai Lang started ordering people around again. "Let's get a move on. Our next show is scheduled for a week from today. If we want to reach this place, we have to start now."

Li wasn't listening to what else Cai Lang had to say about their show as she climbed into the caravan and went to sit on her cot and stare out the window. Just as she plopped herself down, though, she jumped back up immediately. She had sat on something. Pulling it out from under the folds of blanket it had gotten caught up in, she held it to her face to find that it was something wrapped up in a piece of paper with a note attached. She pulled off the note and started to read.

_Thank you for the beautiful picture. Here's something for your troubles. Zhang He._

She carefully unfolded the wrapped up piece of paper. Pulling the object out of its crinkled container, she gasped as she realized what it was:

Her locket.

* * *

**Ah! Mei Li is all alone again! Where will she go next and how long will she end up staying there? Btw, sorry that I'm not taking any suggestions/requests on this story, but I already have the ending figured out so yeah ... but I hope you'll R&R anyway!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Hey! Sorry if this chapter's a little short. Enjoy anyway!**

Chapter Six

_"Where is it?" a raspy voice demanded an answer from Mei Li. _

_"Where's what?" she asked. She could feel her heart pounding in her chest._

_"You know what I'm talking about!"_

_"No I don't! Let me go! Untie me now!"_

Mei Li awoke in the middle of the night, her pillow damp from sweat. She wiped her forehead and tried to calm herself down, but no matter how much she tried, she couldn't stop her heavy breathing. It had been eleven days since Zhen Ji and Zhang He had left her for Wei, and ever since she'd had a recurring nightmare about being tied up in a shed and a mysterious man interrogating her. Every night before she went to bed, it ate away at her, and she hoped with all her heart that she would stop having these dreams, but nonetheless, they came every night. So far she didn't know what the ending was to this dream, and she wasn't sure she wanted to find out.

She went to her bundle of belongings and pulled out her locket. She was so surprised when she first discovered Zhang He had given it back to her, and she didn't even get to say thank you. He must have been the one that stole it from Cai Lang, and that's why the gypsy woman thought Li was the culprit, because everyone knew how special it had been to the young girl. Li was grateful to have it back, but she was still afraid to wear it in front of the gypsies, even if both Zhang He and Cai Lang said the matter was settled. She never did get the specifics on exactly what He told Lang, and she didn't want to take her chances.

Even though it was around midnight and she still had many hours of sleep ahead of her, Li wasn't tired. She attached the locket around her neck, glad to have its familiar feel back after so long. She quietly tiptoed out of her room and opened the creaky caravan door. Luckily it didn't wake up Cai Lang. She walked outside into the cool night air, breathing in deeply. The night differed so much from the day. Everything was quiet, the world seemed to be holding its breath, and Mei Li found it hard to believe she wasn't the only one alive at the moment.

Tomorrow the gypsies would be stopping at a large town. Being so close to the actual place at which she was probably going to get off, Li found it interesting that she still didn't know what the town was called. She made a mental note to ask Cai Lang in the morning.

Her peaceful thoughts were interrupted by a rustling heard in the bushes nearby. Li instinctively froze and held her breath. After waiting for what seemed like forever, Li finally calmed down and continued her nightly excursion.

She didn't get very far in exploring or staring at the night sky with a dreamy expression on her face when she heard creaking coming from one of the caravans. Before she had time to react, Cai Lang emerged from the shadows.

"I thought I heard you get up," she said, coming to stand next to Mei Li.

"Did I wake you?" Li asked, still wishing the magic of the night hadn't been broken by the intrusion of another person.

"No, I was already awake." Cai Lang answered. "I thought I heard something outside in the bushes, but I guess I was wrong."

Li didn't bother saying she had heard it, too. It was probably just an animal anyway; nothing to worry about.

"Do you miss your friends?" Cai Lang asked, glancing up at the moon. Li was surprised that she actually wanted to start a conversation with her. From the beginning, Mei Li had gotten the message that Lang didn't really want anything to do with her.

"Yeah," Li said. "They were really the only friends I ever had."

"You can count me in." Cai Lang said. Li was surprised. Cai Lang considered Mei Li her friend? Li's silence must have clued Lang in, letting her know that Li was surprised, so she started talking.

"You remind me of someone; a good friend of mine. She's gone now, though." Mei Li waited for Cai Lang to continue. "She was murdered."

Mei Li nodded, saying softly, "I know what it's like to have a friend die. Or at least, someone who you were close to, and then they were suddenly gone."

"Is that why you ran away, Li?"

Mei Li was silent for a second. "Yeah," she whispered.

Cai Lang turned to face her. "You can't run from your troubles, Li. Sometimes you have to face them. You have to stay and fight."

"But what if you don't know how to stay and fight?" Li asked. "What if in order to face your problems you have to run away first, to find yourself?"

Cai Lang was quiet for a long time. The two of them just stared out at the world, watching as if everyone's lives had been put on pause. Mei Li suddenly felt very tired and sat down on the grass. Cai Lang did the same and then started talking.

"I don't know how to answer that." She said. "But I can give you one piece of advice: everyone you meet in your life is there for a reason. You don't know what that reason is, so you need to find it."

"I need to find why people are in my life?" Mei Li asked, a little confused.

"Everyone touches you in some way. You can't go through life, meeting many people, and then come out in the end unaffected by any of them. Everyone teaches you a lesson in one way or another."

Mei Li thought about this revelation and found that she agreed with it very much.

"So, of all the new people you've met, what has each of them taught you so far?" Cai Lang asked her.

Thinking long and hard, she decided to start with Zhen Ji. "She taught me that looks can be deceiving."

"Why is that?" Cai Lang asked.

"When I first met her she seemed haughty and arrogant. But as I got to know her, I realized she was really nice and actually did care about me."

Cai Lang nodded, not saying anything. She let Li continue.

"And Zhang He taught me to appreciate beauty and nature in every form, no matter how insignificant or unimportant it may seem."

"Oh, you can't say that!" Cai Lang cried out, a smile on her face. "You're an artist. You already appreciated beauty before you met that guy."

Mei Li laughed. "Well, that's true in one way, I guess." She thought long and hard before saying, "Okay, then he taught me to laugh at the little things in life."

Cai Lang shrugged. "Okay. What about me? Did I teach you anything?"

"Right now I'm thinking you're the one who's taught me the most." Mei Li answered. She thought back to the very first day she met Cai Lang, when she had just run away and talked to the gypsy woman from outside the caravan. "But besides all that you've said to me tonight, I remember what you said to me the first time we met. You said, 'You'll have to make due with what you get,' because you said my two weeks counted whether or not we were moving."

Cai Lang smiled and nodded, recalling that day. "Well, the reason I decided to talk to you tonight about this is because you're leaving tomorrow, aren't you?"

"Yeah," Mei Li nodded. "I guess my two weeks will be up tomorrow. Plus you guys are stopping to put on a show, so it makes sense for me to get off at a town instead of the middle of nowhere."

"Well, if you can't find a place to stay in that town, you're welcome to stay with us until we leave."

"Really?" Mei Li asked, turning to look at Cai Lang. "For free?"

"Well, we wouldn't be moving anyway. And it's not like we won't be earning any money; we're putting a show on after all."

"Thanks, Lang." Mei Li said.

"Sure thing, kiddo." Cai Lang answered. "Well, I'm going back inside now. I think you should get to sleep as well."

"Alright," Mei Li agreed, and the two of them stood up from sitting in the grass and walked back to the caravan.

"Oh, and Li ..." Cai Lang turned to face her before they retired for the rest of the night.

"Yeah?"

"Why don't we keep this little talk we had to ourselves, okay? It's just that I'm the leader of this caravan, and I do have a reputation to uphold..."

"Don't worry about it," Mei Li smiled. "I know what you mean."

"Great," Lang said, looking relieved. "Well, get to sleep! We've got a long day ahead of us tomorrow."

Mei Li saluted and started off to her bed, feeling the happiest she had ever since Zhang He and Zhen Ji had left. She turned around and caught Cai Lang before she went to bed.

"Oh, one more thing," Li said. "What's this town we're going to tomorrow? I know I'm going to be getting off at this place and I don't even know what it's called."

"The place?" Cai Lang said. "Shu." She turned around and went to bed, closing the door behind her.

Shu. Li hoped it was a nice place.

* * *

**Like I said before, I know this was a short one, but it really serves as the transition between Mei Li with the gypsies and then Mei Li at Shu. Anyway, please continue to R&R! Oh and it's okay about your review not showing up, BlueSun91. I tried to submit this chapter yesterday, but the site had been really busy so it didn't work. **


	7. Chapter 7

**Yes, the place they're staying at is a town IN Shu! Shu is not a town in itself. Sorry if I made that confusing and unclear, etc. **

Chapter Seven

"You got everything?" Cai Lang asked Mei Li as the young girl looked over her belongings to make sure everything was there. She reached into her hand into the bundle and felt relieved when the familiar, cold touch of her locket met her hand. She still hadn't said anything about it to Cai Lang. She decided it was best to leave it unsaid.

"I think so," Mei Li said. "Not that I had much to begin with."

"Well, as a runaway, there's not much room for things other than what you absolutely need," Cai Lang said observantly.

"That's true," Mei Li agreed.

"You take care of yourself, you hear?" Cai Lang said before Mei Li left the caravan. Mei Li nodded in return, and stepped out of the room that had been hers for the past two weeks.

She walked across the grass, nearing a large town that would be her new home for how long, she didn't know. Looking back at the group of caravans one last time, the young girl saw many gypsies setting up, readying for acts, but only one watching her leave; Cai Lang. She waved meekly, turned around, and kept going.

Bare footed, Mei Li entered the town limits and came first and foremost to an open-air market, much like the one in her own town. She must have made an odd appearance;a poor looking girl carrying a bundled up blanket with who knows what inside, walking along without a destination. She began to doubt that anyone would want to take her into their own house.

As usual when walking through a market, Mei Li was met with shouts and yells of people trying to sell things, offering their best prices, bargains, and deals. They would say anything to get a customer for the day. Their offers started sounding good, and Li realized that if she couldn't find a place to stay in this town, she'd have to buy her meals until she did find somewhere. Suddenly the rolls in the stand next to her were starting to smell really good.

She was considering buying one when a man stepped in front of her to buy some.

"I'll have three dozen, please," the man said.

"Three dozen?" said the vendor, trying not to sound surprised. "Okay, here you go."

"And here_ you_ go," said the man as he paid the owner of the stand. They said their thanks and the man started walking away. Li was left standing in the spot she had been in, staring back at the man, and having the strangest feeling of deja vu.

She suddenly remembered where she had seen him before, and started running after him. She didn't call out ot him, though, because she didn't know his name and to call "Wait!" into a crowd was pointless; everyone would turn and look at her.

When she finally caught up with him, she realized how strange it would be to tap him on the shoulder and start talking to him. After all, her reasons for talking to him were particularly unbelievable. Deciding to just keep following him until she thought of something to say, she trailed behind at a distance for about ten minutes. She had finally gotten a speech down in her head, and was about to start talking, when the man suddenly turned around.

"Excuse me miss, but are you following me?" Li stared at him and found it odd that he covered his whole face except for his eyes. It gave his voice a muffled effect, and she paused for a second or two before responding.

"No! Well, yes actually, but ... I'm sorry. I hope I'm not intruding or anything, but I kind of need a place to stay for the night. And maybe the next couple of nights, too." Li suddenly felt very shy. Here she was asking a complete stranger for lodging. And she only knew him from a dream.

The man looked her up and down, and then asked a strange question: "Can you fight?"

"Fight?" Mei Li said, making sure she had heard him correctly. "Not particularly. But if you really need any sort of help around the house, I'm very good at working. I grew up on a farm, so I know all about chores."

The man chuckled and said, "Oh, no. I'm sure you're welcome with the rest of us without having to do chores. You might end up learning a thing or two in the art of war, though."

Li raised her eyebrows. Had she just asked a general or a soldier for lodging? Then she remembered her dream and found that this very much made sense. She continued to talk to him. "Is it okay if I stay with you at your house?"

"Well, it's not my house, but I'm sure you'll be welcome." He said, turning around. "Follow me."

"My name is Mei Li, sir." She said after catching up to walk next to him.

"Well, nice to meet you, Mei Li. I'm Pang Tong."

"The pleasure is all mine," she said, recalling what Zhang He had said to her when they first met.

"How delightful," Pang Tong said. "She's skilled in chores _and_ manners."

Mei Li laughed and thought how well she and this strange man would get along. He walked with a hunch, so as he was bent over, he was just about as tall as Mei Li. She had started to wonder how tall he would be if he chose to stand up straight, but he interrupted her thoughts.

"How old are you, Mei Li?"

"I'm sixteen," she answered, then corrected herself. "Oh, I'm sorry. Actually I'm seventeen. Today is my birthday." Thoughts of her uncle came flooding back, as one of the things they had talked about before he died was what to do for her birthday celebration.

"Happy birthday, then." Pang Tong answered. "We'll have to celebrate once we get back and you've been introduced to everyone."

"Thank you," Li said.

"Now, call me nosy if you want to..." Pang Tong began. "but why are you walking around aimlessly with nothing to do on your birthday? Shouldn't you be celebrating with your family?"

"Normally, yes," Li said. "But ..." she paused. Should she tell this man the truth? He might try to send her back to her family. She had gotten lucky with the gypsies. They obviously didn't care if a runaway came to travel with them, so long as the stowaway paid them. Even though she ended up becoming friends with Cai Lang, the gypsy woman never told her what to do; she merely gave her advice. Of course Cai Lang was a _gypsy_, she had probably run away as a young girl, too. Either that or her mother had been a gypsy as well, and her mother didn't care how free spirited she acted.

Either way, Mei Li decided she needed to tell the truth to this strange man. After all, if she was going to try and tell him about the dream she had with him in it, she had to gain his trust, which included telling the truth. How else would she be able to explain why she ran away?

"But what?" Pang Tong asked.

"But I ran away from home," Mei Li admitted. The more and more she said it and thought about it, the more comfortable she became with the fact. Her aunt slowly became a distant memory, and her uncle's death went with it. So did the reason her uncle died, which Li was still convinced was all because of her.

"Now why would you go and do something like that? Aren't your parents looking for you?"

"My parents are dead," Mei Li said. She didn't have much trouble admitting that. Though she did miss them, they had been dead for ten years, and she had gotten used to it. She had grown up without parents, after all.

"I'm sorry," Pang Tong said, but then continued. "So, you ran away because you don't have a family or a home?"

Even though his guess wasn't entirely accurate, Li felt it was all too true. She never really felt that the farm was a home, or that her aunt and uncle were people she could confide in, which is what a family was to her. At least, one of the qualities a family should have.

"Yes," Li said. "Something like that."

"Something like that, eh?" Pang Tong didn't question her any further.

"If you don't mind," Mei Li said. "You're asking me all these questions, and I wouldn't mind asking you a few of my own."

"Shoot," was Pang Tong's reply.

"Okay," Li said, and she thought for a second. "Why do you cover your face?"

Pang Tong laughed much to Li's surprise. She knew the question was a little straightforward, and she was even shocked at herself for asking it. But she was dying of curiosity.

"A simple question that deserves a simple answer." Pang Tong finally said. "I'm ugly."

Li didn't say anything. At first she thought he was joking. Finally she said, "Are you serious?"

"Quite serious, actually."

"Were you injured in some way and you had to cover up the scar?" Mei Li was convinced that in no way was he just plain ugly. No one was so ugly that they had to cover up their face and hide from the public.

"No, just ugly."

"That's ... horrible." said Mei Li.

"I know," Pang Tong said sarcastically. "Ugly people shouldn't be allowed to be born, wouldn't you agree?"

"Oh, no that's not what I meant." Li said. "It's horrible that you think you're so ugly that you have to cover your face. You shouldn't have to do that."

Pang Tong's eyes squinted up and started sparkling, and Li could tell he was smiling behind all that cloth and material.

"That's a very kind thing of you to say," Pang Tong said. "But I do have other reasons. That is just the reason I tell people when they ask."

Li giggled and knew that she was going to have a good time with Pang Tong and the rest of his family. She suddenly remembered her dream, though, and felt sad. Why did this have to happen to such a kind man? Questions started circulating in her head. Should she tell him? Would he even believe her? Was ths dream even a future predicting one? Maybe it wasn't. Maybe there was a way to prevent this fate from happening.

Li concluded that she should not tell this man, at least not yet, about the dream she had. It would be awkward to tell him the very first day that they met. Perhaps later, after he had gotten to know her better and they were friends.

"So, what is the rest of your family like?" Li asked. "Are you married? Do you have any children?"

"No, and no." Pang Tong said, answering her last few questions.

"Do you even have a family?" Mei Li said, starting to wonder.

"A family, yes. A big, strange family, but a family nonetheless." Pang Tong said. "A family made up friends."

Mei Li watched the strange little man in the odd way that he walked, and started wondering about him. Thinking back to Cai Lang's philosophy, Mei Li questioned herself, _What does this peculiar man have to teach me?_

* * *

**Okay, not much else to say down here as an endnote... but I hope you enjoyed it! Chapter eight, coming soon!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Wow, somebody else reviewed! Thanks for all the compliments. tear tear i'm so happy. **

Chapter Eight

Mei Li lay on her new bed in her new room within a large building that housed many people. She had met all of them when Pang Tong showed her in that afternoon, but already she had forgotten most of their names. Of the people she did remember, one of them was Liu Bei, the leader. Mei Li had purposefully committed his name to memory, thinking that it wouldn't be good to forget the most important person's name.

She also remembered Zhuge Liang, the calm and intelligent strategist. He had left an impression on her, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it. In the end she just decided that he was an interesting person, and that's probably why he struck her so.

And the last person she particularly remembered was Guan Ping. She blushed as she thought about the good-looking young officer. In fact, he was only one year older than she was. She felt shy around him, though, and doubted that any relationship would ever rise between them. Li found it odd that she was so much more comfortable talking to the older people, like Pang Tong, than the people her own age, like Guan Ping and another girl whose name she had forgotten for the time being. But the girl was nice and seemed to be friends with Guan Ping; probably his girlfriend. Li decided then and there to dismiss the thought of a relationship with Guan Ping, so as not to get her hopes up when she was obviously no competition for that other girl.

Mei Li took her sketchpad off her dresser. She no longer had to use her blanket to keep her things in, since there was a dresser with drawers in her room. Taking the pencil in her hand, she opened up to a new page and sketched Pang Tong from memory. She decided to make him riding on a horse in the picture, since that was how his death was to come about. Li felt guilty for a moment and wondered when she would bring up the painful subject.

She decided to switch her thoughts to happier ones, and tried sketching Guan Ping from memory. Without much reason, she drew him defending a castle as a heroic war general. She decided to add his father in there; his looks were easy to remember because he was the only one with an incredibly long beard. She didn't remember his name though; Guan-something-or-other.

A servant peeked his head through the door to tell Mei Li that dinner was to be served in ten minutes. She smiled and nodded, saying she'd be there very soon. It was only after the servant left that Mei Li realized she didn't know the way to the dining hall. Knowing she'd probably get lost, Li put away her sketches and decided to try finding her way right now.

She exited her room and gently closed the door behind her. As she walked down the hall, for no particular reason, she remembered that today was her birthday. She was now seventeen, and look how she was spending the day; as a runaway in a house full of strangers. This wasn't at all what she had in mind when her uncle asked her what she wanted to do for her birthday.

Now that she thought about it, rather ironically she did get her birthday wish; to see the gypsy caravan. Not only did she see it, but she got to spend two whole weeks with everyone there. Interesting, she thought, how that used to be what she wanted more than anything for her birthday, and now all she wanted was a family and a home.

"Are you on your way to dinner?"

Mei Li turned around to see Guan Ping walking behind her. She tried to keep her voice calm as she said, "Yeah, I am."

"Well, you're going the wrong way," he said with a smile. "Not that I blame you. You're new around here. You're Mei Li, right?"

He actually remembered her name! She was ecstatic. But instead of letting Ping know of her state of extreme happiness, all she said was, "Yeah that's right. And you're Guan Ping."

"That would be me."

Mei Li was uncomfortable with the silence that followed as Guan Ping led her through the corridors to the dining hall, but she could not for the life of her think of something interseting to say. She thought back to when Pang Tong introduced her to everyone. He hadn't told them she had run away from home, and Li was thankful for that. He actually didn't tell anyone that today was her birthday, either. The only information he gave them was her name and that she needed a place to stay. That was all these people needed to know to welcome her with open arms. Li was sure, though, that Pang Tong had told his leader, Liu Bei, more about her in private. Of course he would want to know more about this stranger who had come to stay with them.

Guan Ping led her to the dining hall without saying another word. She was glad he had found her, wandering aimlessly through the halls. She would have never found her way in time for dinner.

When everyone else was seated, Mei Li took special notice of where Guan Ping was sitting; a couple seats down from her. But more importantly, he was sitting next to the girl. Of course his father was on his other side, but Mei Li wasn't interested in that. Li herself was sitting next to Pang Tong and a nice lady who seemed familiar. But then again, Li had many dreams with people in them and suffered from deja vu on a regular basis. This lady was probably in one of her dreams and that's why she seemed familiar.

After the meal was started, so was a conversation; naturally about Mei Li. Everyone wanted to know everything there was to know about her, but Zhuge Liang kept people from getting too nosy. Li was grateful that he often stepped in to stop the conversation when it was getting too personal, because she wasn't quite sure that she wanted everyone to know she ran away from home.

At one point, Zhuge Liang brought up an interesting topic. "I have a riddle." he said. "And whoever answers it first correctly will get a prize." Everyone looked at him eagerly, waiting for him to ask so that they could start thinking of what the solution could be. They all wanted the prize.

"How many marbles can you put into an empty bag?"

Conversation immediately arose. Many people repeated the question to themselves, others asked the person next to them if they had any idea. Some responses were called out.

"Twenty!"

"As many as you have!"

"Wait, how big is the bag?" someone asked.

"I assure you, the size of the bag is not imporant." was the strategist's reply.

Mei Li turned to Pang Tong to ask him if he had any idea of what the answer to the riddle was, but one look in his eyes and she could tell he already knew. He was refraining from answering though, to give the others a chance. Mei Li was suddenly filled with respect for him. He knew the answer and yet he didn't want to ruin it for the other people.

Amidst calling out of answers, Li concentrated on the riddle. _How many marbles_, she thought to herself, _can you fit into an empty bag _... an empty bag. That was it!

"Wait!" she called out, and everyone quieted, waiting for her to speak. "You can only put one marble in. After that, the bag isn't empty anymore!"

"That's correct," Zhuge Liang answered, a smile dancing on his lips.

People immediately started talking, discussing the answer and how obvious it was, yet so hard to think of. Many congratulated her, and someone called out, "What's the prize, Prime Minister?"

"Whatever it is, she deserves it," Pang Tong interrupted. "Not only is she smart, but today's her birthday."

After this announcement, conversation started up again, and people started wishing her a happy birthday and asking her how old she was. In between questions, Mei Li spoke across the table to the strategist.

"I don't need a prize, sir." She said. Before he could respond, a cake was brought out to the table and placed in front of Mei Li. She glanced at Pang Tong who nodded back. He told the cook it was her birthday and now all this was happening? She felt like a prized animal who was being watched and just wanted some privacy.

"This does it," Mei Li said, referring to the cake, but hiding a smile. "Zhuge Liang, I do not need that prize! You're already doing so much."

The cake was cut and passed around to everyone. Of course before they could eat one bite, Mei Li had to have a piece herself, as was customary on people's birthdays. After all the celebrating had been done, a servant led Mei Li back to her room and everyone eventually retired to their own rooms as well.

Mei Li had just finished getting dressed in her own room when a knock was heard on the door. She opened it up to find herself looking face to face with that girl, the girl who she assumed was Guan Ping's girlfriend.

"Hello," the girl said in a pleasant voice. "Sorry to disturb you. I'm Xing Cai, in case you don't remember."

"Hi, Xing Cai." Mei Li said. She had to remember that name.

"I was wondering if you had an extra pillow, by any chance. I'm in the room right next to yours, and apparently a servant is washing my pillows, because I don't have any."

"Oh, sure." Mei Li said, opening the door wider. "Come on in. I'm sure I could spare a few for the night."

"Thanks a bunch." Xing Cai said as Mei Li handed her two pillows. Cai glanced around the room and noticed Mei Li's sketchpad sitting on her dresser.

"Hey, can you draw?" she asked.

"Yeah, do you want to see some of my sketches?" Mei Li asked, hoping that she had just found a new friend.

"Sure!"

Mei Li went over to the dresser and picked up the sketchpad, leafing through some of her earlier sketches. She didn't want Xing Cai to see the ones she had done of Guan Ping and Pang Tong, so instead she showed her a couple she had done when she lived back on the farm.

"Oh my, these are amazing!" Xing Cai said, genuinely impressed. "I never was much of an artist. I can't draw to save my life."

Mei Li laughed and didn't say anything else. People had told her that sort of thing before, and she was never sure how to respond.

Xing Cai started flipping through the book, looking at all sorts of pictures Mei Li had drawn. There were some of her aunt, her uncle, the farm animals, even a few Mei Li had drawn of herself. When the pictures started getting into ones of the gypsy caravans and various gypsies doing chores, Mei Li decided this girl had seen enough. She might start asking questions about the gypsies, or she might stumble upon the one of Guan Ping. Li reached for the sketchpad said, "Want me to draw one of you?"

This diverted Xing Cai's attention from the sketchpad, and the girl involuntarily handed it to Mei Li as she wholeheartedly agreed.

"You can pose however you want." Mei Li said.

Xing Cai sat down on a chair and fixed her hair. "How long will it take you?"

"Well, since it's getting late, I can get the basic outline tonight and work on the details tomorrow, if you'd like that." Mei Li answered.

"Okay," Xing Cai agreed.

Li worked on her sketch, and after about ten minutes told Xing Cai she was done for the night. Showing the girl her progress, Xing Cai was impressed and couldn't wait until it was finished. Li told her that she could have it when she was done. This made Xing Cai even happier, and the girl left in a good mood, holding the two pillows she had borrowed from Mei Li. The young runaway went to bed peaceful and content that night, sure that Shu was the place to stay for the time being.

Meanwhile, Zhuge Liang was wide-awake in the library talking to Pang Tong. The two strategists were discussing Mei Li.

"I was impressed by how easily she came up with the answer for my riddle today," Zhuge Liang told his friend. "She has a lot of potential, I'm sure. It's in her genes."

"Her genes, you say? How would you know anything about that?" Pang Tong asked, his curiosity roused.

The strategist was quiet for a second, thinking about how to respond. "You'll just have to trust me on that one, Pang Tong." The strange man shrugged. "You know I trust you," he said. "I have no reason to doubt you."

"Then hopefully you'll agree with me on this next subject."

"Which is ...?"

"Mei Li is precociously intelligent. I think I would like to make her my new apprentice."

* * *

**Okay so usually I ask some questions down here to keep you wondering what happens next in the story but alas i have no questions today. All I can say is ... please r&r!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Hey, chapter nine is up! As usual, please R&R. Hm, well, nothing else to say, so I hope you enjoy!**

Chapter Nine

When Mei Li had first heard the news that she had been asked to be the new apprentice to Zhuge Liang, she was shocked. She never thought of herself as particularly smart or clever, and certainly not intelligent enough to have all the secrets of Zhuge Liang passed onto her. Instead of answering immediately, she had asked to think it over in her room for a while. Zhuge Liang seemed pleased with her response, and expected her answer, at most, tomorrow. Li thought about what it would be like. She supposed she would study a lot, read many books, learn war strategies and memorize the patterns of certain enemies. She'd have to be familiar with war jargon and be able to think on her feet. On the other hand, it offered her a job and a place to stay for many years to come. All the people in Shu were nice, and after a long time of contemplating, Mei Li could see no downside to the offer. She was about to open up her door and go look for Zhuge Liang in the library to tell him her answer, when the door opened itself. In a second she was face to face with Guan Ping.

"Oh, hi," he said, obviously not expecting to find Mei Li standing right at the door when he opened it. "Sorry if I'm interrupting anything, but I just wanted to … uh, congratulate you on your birthday that you had yesterday. So, happy birthday."

Li eyed him suspiciously. "Thanks," she said. She was delighted he had actually come to see her, but he sure was acting weird.

"So, what are you doing now?"

"I was just on my way to the library to -"

"Great I was on my way there, too!" he said, interrupting her. "Mind if I walk you there?"

Mei Li smiled, pleased with the way this conversation was going. "No, I don't mind. Not at all."

"Alright," he said. He backed out of the way of the door, giving Mei Li room to come out. She stood beside him and they started walking. Even though this was only her second day here, Mei Li already knew where a couple of places were, including the library, the dining hall, and Xing Cai's room, since it was right next to hers. She suddenly remembered the sketch she had promised to finish for Xing Cai today. _Well_, she thought, _I guess it'll have to wait for a little bit while I talk to Zhuge Liang_.

It was a short walk to the library, so neither Guan Ping or Mei Li bothered trying to start a conversation. They entered the room. It was considerably cooler than the rest of the building, probably because it was so big and spacious, and it smelled of old books. Li wandered around, admiring the many items put on display and examining the books. Zhuge Liang was sitting in a chair, leafing through a book when Mei Li and Guan Ping found him.

"Hello, Prime Minister," she said. She had learned to call him by this title, as many other people did and she figured she ought to now that she was to be apprenticed to him.

"Good morning, Mei Li." Zhuge Liang said, politely closing his book and glancing up at the two people standing there. "Good morning, Guan Ping." He added when he saw the young officer who had accompanied Mei Li.

"Good morning, sir," he responded. He turned to Mei Li, sure that she had something important to discuss with Zhuge Liang, and said to her, "I just remembered that I have to be … somewhere with my dad right now, so I need to go. But do you mind if we hang out, maybe tomorrow or later today? I'd like to show you the peach garden in the back."

"That sounds like fun," Mei Li said, smiling at him. "I guess I'll come looking for you when I'm done here."

"Okay," he said. He turned around and left the library. Mei Li turned back to Zhuge Liang, a little embarrassed that the strategist had witnessed Guan Ping asking her to hang out with him. She cleared her throat and tried her best to overlook the incident.

"I have made my decision about becoming your apprentice." She said.

"What have you decided?"

"It was an honor of you to ask me, and I will take you up on your offer."

"Wonderful," he said, obviously pleased. "Come, have a seat. I have a few things to discuss with you before we actually start your studies."

Mei Li sat down in an empty chair that had been next to the strategist. She did her best to sit up straight, with good posture, and fold her hands in her lap. She needed to be presentable and intelligent looking at all times.

"I hope this doesn't make you feel uncomfortable," he began, and at those very words Mei Li knew he was going to say something that would make her feel uneasy, but she continued to listen attentively. "But I'll need to know a little bit about you as a person before we can start the studies. After all, I am your teacher, and you my student. We shouldn't be such strangers."

"Okay," Mei Li said. That wasn't so bad as it sounded.

"So, if you do not mind, I will ask you some questions. We'll start out small. I already know your name and age, so, where did you used to live before you came here?"

"On a farm, with my aunt and uncle."

An expression passed over his face so quickly that Mei Li was unable to decipher what it meant. His original calm composure was regained and he proceeded with the questions.

"How long did you live there?"

"Ever since I was six."

Mei Li figured the next question would be, "And where did you live before that?" But that wasn't what Zhuge Liang asked. He seemed to be avoiding that question.

"Hm. Okay, and why did you come here?"

"Because I needed a place to stay."

"Oh? Did something happen to your uncle and aunt that made it impossible for you to live on the farm?"

"Well," Mei Li swallowed hard. "My uncle died and it was a little too much for me. So I ran away from home."

"Do you live nearby?"

"No, I live two weeks from here."

"How did you get all the way to this town, then?" Zhuge Liang asked, his interested roused.

"I traveled with the gypsies." Figuring he'd ask her to elaborate on that, Mei Li continued without question. "I knew they were coming to my town, so the day after my uncle died I ran away to join them. Even though they were supposed to do a show, someone else on the caravan convinced them to continue, because if I stayed in that spot for too long I would be found. I paid the gypsies to take me two weeks out of my town, which just so happened to mean that I would stay here. I guess you know the rest; Pang Tong and I found each other in the market and he agreed to let me stay here, with all of you."

Zhuge Liang nodded, as if he already knew most of the story. Much to Li's surprise, he didn't reprove her, scold her, or even suggest she go back home. Instead he started talking about Pang Tong.

"He is an interesting man indeed. No doubt you have a lot of questions about him."

"Yes, actually, I do." Mei Li said, glad the focus of the conversation was finally off of her. "Why he walks that way, why he has no family, what he's doing here with all of you …" _If he really was going to die that horrible death…_Mei Li added silently to herself.

"But you don't wonder why he covers his face, though that is the most obvious question?"

"Oh, I already asked him that," Mei Li said. "He had a most peculiar reason that still doesn't make much sense to me."

Zhuge Liang smiled and said, "He thinks he's ugly."

"Yes, exactly." Mei Li said. "_Is_ he ugly, Prime Minister?"

The man shrugged, saying, "I have not seen his face. I don't think anybody here has. He came to us that way. Though it no longer matters to me what he looks like; I feel no need to see his face. He is a good warrior, a good strategist, and a good friend, so I am content with that."

Mei Li nodded. _Still_, she thought, _I'd like to see what he looks like_. An image of him riding on the horse suddenly came to her mind, and Li knew what she had to do.

"Prime Minister, sir…" she started to say. "If you'll be open and believe me, I have something hardly reasonable to tell you." She knew she could trust Zhuge Liang.

"I'm listening," he said.

"There's more to why I ran away, exactly," she started. "Ever since I can remember I've had these … these dreams. And they're not just any dreams, they tell the future. When I was little they used to scare me, and I thought I had been graced with horrible nightmares. I even remember snippets of dreams I had when I was younger, though I don't know if those dreams ever came to pass." She paused, remembering the ones about the man, the woman, and the shadowy figure. "And some," she continued. "haven't happened yet but I'm afraid they will." She thought back to the dreams of her tied up in the shed, and the dream of Pang Tong dying.

"This is most astounding," Zhuge Liang said. "Have you had any dreams recently that have already happened?"

"Well," Mei Li said. "I dreamt about my uncle's death, and then he died in that exact way the very next day. It scared me," she admitted. "I hadn't had a dream like that in a long time, and then suddenly they started coming back again. I felt like his death was my fault."

"Dear," Zhuge Liang said. "In no way was your uncle's death your fault."

"But I knew it was going to happen," Mei Li retorted.

"So do I know this book will break that window if someone walks in here and throws it." The Prime Minister said, holding up the book he had been reading. "But there is nothing I can do about it."

"You could stop the person from picking up the book."

"Ah," Zhuge Liang said. "But can you stop death from happening? Can you barter with Mother Nature and tell her not to take your friends?"

"No," Mei Li muttered back.

"Then it was not your fault," Zhuge Liang said. "But I can tell something still bothers you. What is on your mind?"

"It's Pang Tong," Mei Li blurted out. "I know how his death is to come about."

Zhuge Liang leaned forward, started to get anxious. "Do you know when, or where?"

"No, all I know is how." She said. "He'll be riding a horse … and then he'll die. He'll get ambushed, or something, in battle. I'm not exactly sure, but the horse is of significance."

Zhuge Liang paused, processing the information.

"Do you think I should tell him?" Mei Li asked.

The Prime Minister shook his head. "No, it is better left unsaid. Since we don't know when the death will take place, or where for that matter, the knowledge is almost useless. We could spend years having him cooped up in this very library in order to protect him, and in the end our attempts would be futile if we decided to finally let him go only to have his fate finally meet him."

Mei Li nodded, understanding what he had said. "But we can't just sit back and do nothing." She said. "We at least know something, so should we _do_ something?"

"I'm afraid in this case, Mei Li, we're just going to have to let nature take its course." Zhuge Liang said. He stroked his beard, deep in thought. "And I don't think we should tell him, either. To have him know how he's going to die would only make his mind anxious. He could be worried about it for years before it actually happens. Then his life would be wasted."

Mei Li sat in silence, knowing that the strategist was right. All of the sudden, Zhuge Liang started speaking, drastically changing the subject.

"I want you to tell me about your parents, Mei Li. How did they die?"

Her head shot up and she stared at him. "How did you know my parents were dead? All I told you is that I lived with my aunt and uncle."

"How did I know they were dead?" He asked. He stood up from his chair and went to stare out the large window that faced the peach garden. He was silent for a second. When he finally spoke, his voice took on a softer tone than usual, a tone filled with nostalgia and longing for the past.

"I knew them when they were _alive_," he said. "I attended their wedding. I was there when you were born."

* * *

**Oh, ho! Looks like there's more to Zhuge than meets the eye! Lol. Looking forward to my usual reviews from BlueSun, and hopefully a couple from other people too! **


	10. Chapter 10

**Okay, here's chapter ten! **

Chapter Ten

Zhuge Liang's last three sentences echoed in Mei Li's mind. Though so much was going through her mind at that moment, she was unable to convey it all into speech. Without realizing it, her mouth hung open the slightest bit and her heart started racing.

_I knew them when they were _alive. He had a strange emphasis on the word "alive". But Mei Li didn't care about that. He'd known her parents. They had been friends, and here she was apprenticed to a man who could tell her virtually anything she wanted to know about her past.

_I attended their wedding_. Their wedding … sure they must have been in love at one point to get married, but from what Mei Li recalled of her broken memories, her father had always been around when she needed him. Memories of her father had been sweet, warm, and always portrayed him as a caring person. Memories of her mother, however, had been distant, aloof, and controlling. Her mother was a kind person, no doubt, but she just wasn't a very good mother. It was almost as if Mei Li's birth had been a mistake.

_I was there when you were born._ This one struck Mei Li the most. No wonder Zhuge Liang had had this little interview with her. He probably suspected her of being his friends' child, and wanted to confirm the facts.

"Tell me, Mei Li," Zhuge Liang said after a minute of silence. "What memories do you have of your parents? How were you told they had died?"

Li took a deep breath and started talking. "When I was six, my father was coming home from a business convention in Southern China. He was supposed to get home on a certain day, but never did. Finally the news reached us that he had been driving at night and was unable to see the road clearly. The horse was going too fast and the cart ran over a huge log, throwing my father off the cart. His neck was broken. An old married couple found him the next morning lying off to the side of the road, but he had already died. Since no one witnessed the event, they concluded that it had been the log in the road that was lying there a couple yards behind the cart."

Zhuge Liang nodded understandingly. "And your mother?"

"I don't remember her being particularly heart-broken about my father's death. She was quieter than usual and her face seemed to have turned to stone, she was so expressionless. One day I woke up and my aunt and uncle were at my house, my mother nowhere in sight. They didn't tell me anything, only that my mother had gone to visit my grandparents and they didn't know when she was coming back. Well, three days later they found her body in a nearby river. After putting all the clues together, they discovered she had been kidnapped and then killed. The murderer tried to dispose of her body in the river, but they found it anyway."

"Did they ever catch the murderer?"

"I don't think so," Mei Li answered. "I wonder what he wanted with my mother, anyway. Wouldn't you know more about this than me, Prime Minister, since you knew them for longer than I did? You were friends with them, after all."

"All I said was that I knew your parents," he said. "I was only friends with your father."

Mei Li didn't say anything, and waited for him to continue. It was a long time before he spoke.

"Do you want to know the truth, Mei Li?"

"More than anything," she said.

Zhuge Liang sat down in a comfortable chair, and began his tale.

"I had been friends with your father for a long time. However, his business required him to move around a lot, and there were occasions when I wouldn't see him for months at a time. It was after one of these excursions that he came back with a woman. I was very surprised, but he convinced me they loved each other and they were to be married the following week. Naturally, as his best friend, I was asked to attend the wedding as the best man.

"The wedding went well, all was good without any mishaps. Not too long after, I met my wife, Yue Ying, and we were married. As a newly wed couple, we didn't have many opportunities to see your parents. Then, about six months later, I heard your mother was pregnant with you. When the time neared for the baby to be born, Yue Ying and I traveled out to visit and stay with them for a couple of weeks. The birth was fine, and your parents were very proud.

"All went well for about six years. It was then that the trouble began. You see, before your mother even met your father, she had been in love with another man. She didn't really have a home to call her own, so she traveled with the gypsies, and on one of her travels she met this other man."

Mei Li thought back to what Cai Lang had told her that one night they had a long talk. _"You remind me of someone; a good friend of mine. She's gone now though. She was murdered."_ That good friend had been Mei Li's mother.

"They had wanted to get married," Zhuge Liang continued, not knowing what Mei Li was thinking. "But the man didn't have enough money yet to support a family. There was no way he was going to get money any time soon. When your mother met your father, and saw how much money he had, an evil plan formulated in the man's head.

"They made a deal. Your mother would marry this man, your father, who had been smitten the first moment he saw her, and therefore share in his riches. Your mother's lover would then come into the picture and kill your father, making it look like an accident had occurred rather than a murder. Your mother would inherit your father's money, and the two could get married.

"However, your mother in the process really did fall in love with your father. And after you were born, there was no way your mother would sacrifice her new family for another man. For six years your mother managed to avoid ever coming into contact with this man. But, still thinking he could win over your mother's heart, the man killed your father on his way back from a business trip. He climbed into his cart, and when it was dark and there were no witnesses, he threw your father from the cart. He really did die of a broken neck, but it was no accident. The man then placed the log behind the cart to make it look like an unintentional act of nature.

"He came back to visit your mother privately. She, of course, recognized him right away, but wanted nothing to do with him. She was enraged when she heard he had killed her husband, and threatened to turn him in. The man, of course, would not hear of this. He was equally mad that your mother didn't want him back, so he kidnapped her and gave her three days to choose otherwise. When she didn't, he killed her and disposed of her in the river.

"Now, there is a little more to the story. After the deaths happened, I was convinced that your father's had not been an accident, and the two were somehow connected. I did a lot of research and discovered all of which I have just told you. We were never able to catch the man, but now that you've come along into the picture, we might be able to find him.

"Your father often spoke of a treasure greater than all the money he ever possessed. The man wanted this treasure more than anything after he killed your father. The only clue he had, though, was that you knew what it was."

"_I_ knew?" Mei Li said, utterly shocked.

"Yes," Zhuge Liang continued. "And now that you are here, you will be able to help me. If we find the treasure, we can lure man to us, then capture him and imprison him for good."

"But, I don't know anything about a treasure." Mei Li said. "Honest, I don't."

"Think hard, Mei Li. Did your father ever talk to you about it? Did he ever say anything that might lead us to another clue?"

"No, I don't …" Mei Li paused, fingering her locket with her hands. "Unless," she said, removing the necklace from her body. "Unless the next clue is in here." She handed the locket to Zhuge Liang.

"A locket?" said the Prime Minister. "What does it say on the inside?"

"My father gave it to me for my fifth birthday," Mei Li explained. "I don't know what it says on the inside because it's rusted shut. I remember my father used to read the inscription to me, but I forgot what it said after he died."

Zhuge Liang studied the locket and attempted to open it. His tries were useless, the locket wouldn't budge.

"What happened to the money, though?" Mei Li asked. "After my father and mother died, where did it all go?"

The strategist looked at her. "To their only offspring, of course."

"You mean I inherited the money?" Mei Li said. The man nodded. "Why didn't we use it all those years, then, when I was living in poverty with my uncle and aunt?"

"You were to receive the money when you were eighteen, and considered an adult." Zhuge Liang answered. "You only have to wait one more year until you can get it. For the mean time, it's being kept safe with your aunt back at the farm. They have it buried in a completely random spot that only your aunt and uncle know of."

"And they never used it for themselves," Mei Li muttered to herself.

At that moment, a servant burst into the library, interrupting Mei Li's life changing experience. Zhuge Liang watched the man expectantly, waiting for him to talk.

"Sir, your advice is needed. Lord Liu Bei needs to go into battle and wants to know what you think about it."

"Yes, tell him I'll be right there." Zhuge Liang said, standing up. He turned to Mei Li and handed her the locket. "This will have to wait until after the battle, Mei Li. For now, why don't you rest in your room and think the whole thing over."

"Exactly what I was going to do, Prime Minister." Mei Li answered. She put the locket back around her neck and exited the library with Zhuge Liang. After Mei Li reached her room, the two went their separate ways; Zhuge Liang to discuss war with Liu Bei, and Mei Li to ponder her past with no one but herself.

After a couple of minutes, a knock was heard on her door. It was Xing Cai.

"Hi, Mei Li." She said. "I hope I'm not intruding."

"No," Mei Li lied, sitting up in her bed. "I was doing nothing, anyway." Xing Cai entered the room and sat down on a chair. Mei Li guessed what she wanted. "Should I continue the sketch I started of you last night?"

"Yes, please!" Xing Cai said, obviously happy. "That would be so nice of you."

"Sure thing," Mei Li answered. She retrieved her sketchpad and started drawing again. Except this time, her strokes were full of emotion; shock, sadness, yearning … she put all her problems into that drawing, and when she was finished, she tore it out of her sketchpad and handed it to Xing Cai. The young girl stared at it for a second.

"Wow," she finally said. "I look so real. You really know how to make a picture come to life. Thanks a lot." Mei Li nodded, not saying anything, and Xing Cai left the room.

Once the chipper young girl was gone, Mei Li threw herself onto her bed and started weeping. She wasn't sure why she cried so hard, but everything that ever happened to her came out of her that day, and spent itself in the form of tears that soaked her pillow.

Many hours later, a knock was heard on her door. Mei Li's tears had long since stopped, and she yelled out, "Come in," her voice cracking from all the crying she had done. Pang Tong walked into the room and sat down on the bed next to her.

"What's wrong, squirt?" he asked, his voice full of compassion.

"It's a long story," she said, sniffing.

"Well, I'll have to hear it when I get back." He said. "I've been asked to fight in this next battle, and we're leaving later tonight. I need to go get prepared. I just thought you'd like to know that I'd be going."

Mei Li stared at him, wondering what she should say. She didn't have to say anything, her fears were confirmed when the next sentence came out of the strange man's mouth.

"I'm going to ride Liu Bei's horse as a distraction. The enemy will think I'm our lord, and we can do a surprise attack of some sort while I lead them in a different direction. Sounds good, eh?"

Mei Li didn't answer, instead she started crying, much to her surprise, because she thought she'd cried herself out a long time ago. There was one thing she wanted to say to her friend before he left. She embraced him tightly, her tears staining his shoulder, and said to him with utmost sincerity;

"You are _not_ ugly."


	11. Chapter 11

**okay chapter 11 is up! sorry if this one seems kind of boring and/or anti-climactic, but it's kind of hard to top those last two chapters, what with all those secrets being revealed and stuff. **

Two days later, after Pang Tong and some others had left for battle, word came back that Pang Tong had been killed. He had been attacked while riding Liu Bei's horse because the enemy, as planned, thought he was Shu's leader. However, not according to plan, Pang Tong was killed in the process. Needless to say, Liu Bei felt entirely too guilty, like the death was all his fault. Mei Li knew exactly how he felt. She took equal blame in Pang Tong's death, as well as her uncle's, despite what Zhuge Liang told her.

"Mei Li, my apprentice, you have to understand that what came to pass was not at all your fault," the Prime Minister said to her that day, trying to comfort the young girl. "You have to realize that you are the messenger between the future and the present, and even if you didn't ask for it, the gift is yours. There's nothing you can do about it."

"Gift?" Mei Li said, looking at him with an unbelieving expression on her face. "You call what I have a gift? To wake up some mornings, not knowing if your dream last night was fantasy or reality, you call that a gift? To sit back and watch a story unfold, a story that you know the ending to, only to have no power over the conclusion? That, Prime Minister, is not a gift. That is what one calls a curse."

"Li," Zhuge Liang said comfortingly. "sometimes even weeds can be beautiful if you look at them a certain way."

"Please," Mei Li retorted, forgetting all respect for her elders at the moment. "You're starting to sound like Zhang He."

"It means that your 'curse' can either be a curse or a gift. What it turns out to be is how you choose to perceive it." Zhuge Liang answered, ignoring the comment about a certain Zhang He whom he had never met.

"Now," the strategist continued. "why don't you go to your room and think over Pang Tong's death? You're not the only one who's feeling guilty and sad about this," he motioned over toward Liu Bei. Mei Li started to leave for her room. "Mei Li," Zhuge said before she was out of earshot. "You do know that if you ever need me, I'm here to talk to."

"Yeah, yeah," Mei Li muttered to herself. She was angry and bitter when she left the strategist, but during the short walk to her room, her feelings had completely turned around. She had to slam the door behind her and run to her bed in order to make it to her pillow before the tears started flowing.

"Pang Tong," she said, letting the hurt out. "Uncle … mom, dad, why did you have to die? You're supposed to be here for me. I can't do this by myself!" she yelled to the sky. She started sobbing so hard, that it even hurt to cry. After taking several deep breaths, she calmed down, sniffing hard just to breathe through her nose. Her eyes were red and swollen, her nose all stuffed up, and she was sure that her face was many shades paler than usual. Getting up from her bed, she walked over to her sketchpad, brought it back and sat down where she previously had been. She opened up to a new page and, instead of sketching, started writing.

"Lessons I've Been Taught" was the title she put at the top of the page. She started making a list.

1. Cai Lang – make due with what you get; everyone in life teaches you a lesson.

2. Zhen Ji – looks can be deceiving

3. Zhang He – appreciate beauty and nature; laugh at the little things in life. She couldn't help but smile as she remembered that Cai Lang said that first one didn't count. She figured she'd put it in her list anyway.

4. Pang Tong –

Mei Li paused. What had Pang Tong taught her? During the short time she'd spent with the man, she had learned to love him, but that time wasn't nearly long enough spent to have had a lesson taught to her. Maybe her head was too crowded up with thoughts right now. She needed some time to just let it all go, she decided. She'd get back to filling in her list later, after a nap or something.

She lay down on her bed and snuggled in. After all the crying she'd done, she sure was tired out. She breathed in deeply, feeling calm for the first time in a long time. The bed and pillow began to feel more and more comfortable with every passing second, almost as if she was becoming one with the sheets…

_Knock, knock_. Mei Li was catapulted out of the state in between sleep and consciousness by a knocking on her door. When she failed to answer the knock, the voice behind the door called out to her.

"Mei Li? Are you there? Can I come in?"

She recognized the voice right away. Guan Ping. Sure, he was an extremely good-looking guy, but Mei Li just wanted to sleep … unfortunately for Mei Li she was too kind a person to just say no. After all, they had made plans to meet in the peach garden, didn't they?

"Yeah, you can come in," she said. She was surprised that her voice didn't sound all cracked and sore from all the hard-core crying she'd done. She was just glad that Guan Ping didn't say something about how hideous she looked when he came in.

"Hi," he said softly. "I know you're taking Tong's death kind of hard, and I was wondering, if there was any way that I could make it easier for you … well, just let me know and I'll be there in a heart beat."

Those were just about the sweetest words anyone had ever said to her. Li wanted to melt right then and there. She forgot all about being sad and how tired she was.

"Thanks," she said, and she really meant it. "That's really nice. But you know," she paused, smiling. "You still do owe me a tour of the peach garden."

Guan Ping smiled back at her, a smile that made Li's heart drop to the floor. "Want to go do that now?" Li agreed by standing up and walking over to him. He stepped out of the way for her to go out of the door first, and then closed it behind him as they started walking down the corridors.

"Today's a really nice day," Guan Ping said. "It's the perfect atmosphere for going to the peach garden."

"Thanks for doing this,"

"No problem."

When they reached the peach garden, Mei Li was astonished. The place was beautiful. The trees were full of bright green leaves spotted with tiny peaches, just waiting for the temperature to permit them to grow big and ripe. Mei Li breathed in deeply. The garden smelled so good!

"You should see it in the spring," Guan Ping said, seeing how impressed she was. "That's when all the peach blossoms bloom. It's great, all those tiny little pink petals floating around everywhere."

"Even now, it's still really pretty," Mei Li gushed.

"Yeah," Guan Ping whispered, looking at her. Li didn't notice because she was busy exploring the peach garden. It was like being in a completely different world, traveling from the large building outside into the garden.

"This seems like such a sacred place, almost," Mei Li said. "It has a personality of its own."

"It is sacred, at least to my father," Guan Ping said. "Here he made an oath with Lord Liu Bei and Zhang Fei, who is Xing Cai's father. They promised to die on the exact same day, within the hour. They're sworn brothers."

"Wow," Mei Li said. That was interesting. Though she wasn't really impressed, she took into account how the peach garden served as such an important place in these people's lives.

Guan Ping slipped his hand into hers and said, "I always thought it would be a nice place to –"

Suddenly, a shout of greeting was heard from near the front of the peach garden, where the back door of the building was. Immediately letting go of Mei Li's hand, as if on impulse, Guan Ping turned around to see who was there. Mei Li did the same. As the figure came into focus, Li sighed a sigh of exasperation in her mind. Xing Cai.

"Hi," the girl said, panting a bit from the run she had just done. "I've been looking for you, Mei Li."

"Oh, well, here I am." She said, smiling, trying to be nice.

Xing Cai laughed and said, "And I've been looking for you, too, Guan Ping." The young officer looked at her, waiting for her to explain. "Your father is looking for you. He needs to talk to you. Something about Fan Castle."

Guan Ping's eyes widened and he said, "Now? Do I need to go now?" Xing Cai put on a confused face and nodded. "I guess so. Yeah," she said, confirming her guess. "Yeah it seemed pretty urgent."

Guan Ping turned to Mei Li and said, "I'm sorry. I really need to go. But when I get back can we … can we talk?"

"Sure," Mei Li said, the word barely escaping her mouth before Guan Ping started running back toward the building. She watched him go, wondering what he was about to say before Xing Cai interrupted them.

"So, you said you were looking for me?" Mei Li said once Guan Ping had left.

"Well, I knew you'd be with Guan Ping wherever you were, and I was really looking for him, not you." Xing Cai said, suddenly not seeming so friendly. "What were you guys doing out here, anyway?"

"Guan Ping was just showing me the peach garden, is all." Mei Li said, getting defensive. "Does that bother you?"

"Well, yes actually." Xing Cai said. "Before you came along, me and Guan Ping … well we were sort of – "

"Dating?" Mei Li said, interrupting her.

"Not exactly dating." Xing Cai said. "But we were like best friends, and I just knew he was going to ask me to be his girlfriend. And then you came along and he started getting interested in you."

"I'm sorry," Li said. "But I'm not just going to tell Guan Ping to back off. What if I like him too?"

"Look," Xing Cai said, sighing. "I know he's going to be gone for a couple days at Fan Castle. Him and his father need to go defend that. But once he gets back, how about we let him decide, okay? I really do like him, but you're a really nice girl, too. I was hoping we would be friends."

"That's kind of what I was hoping, too." Li inserted her opinion, not wanting to get in a fight with this girl.

"Good. So, when Guan Ping gets back, whoever he asks first, we'll try not to fight about it, okay?"

"Fine by me," Mei Li said, sticking out her hand. The girls shook on the deal. After all, he was just about to say something to Mei Li, and wanted to talk to her when he got back, so Li was sure that he was going to choose her.

Later that day, Li was sitting on her bed leafing through her sketchpad. She reached the one of Pang Tong and paused. He had been so brave, agreeing to ride Liu Bei's horse just so that the enemy would be distracted. And then he got killed for it. What came over her that day, anyway, that inspired her to draw how Pang Tong's death would come about?

She flipped over to the very next picture, the one she'd drawn of Guan Ping and his father defending a castle. He looked so heroic and – wait. On the very same day she'd drawn how Pang Tong would die, she drew a picture of Guan Ping defending a castle with his father. And today he had to go to Fan Castle … Mei Li paled as she realized what was going to happen. A sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach emerged, and she felt like she was going to be sick.

* * *

**now I know that Pang Tong's death and Guan Ping / Guan Yu's death were years apart, but then the story would never end, would it? R&R s'il vous plait! (french for please)**


	12. Chapter 12

**Wow I know I update fast but this must be a new record, lol! Actually I had the chapter already typed up, and I knew I would be busy tomorrow (monday) so I figured I'd post it now since I wouldn't get around to it tomorrow. Enjoy!**

Mei Li wasted no time. She tore the picture of Guan Ping and his father out of her sketchpad and started running down the halls.

"Zhuge Liang!" she called out, hoping that wherever the strategist was, he would hear her. "Zhuge Liang! Come quick!"

She ran into the library, the place where she thought the Prime Minister would most likely be. He was not there. A lady was there, though, someone whom Mei Li recognized but didn't remember what her name was.

"Have you seen Zhuge Liang?" she asked the lady.

"I'm sorry I don't know where my husband is," the woman said back to her. "Why are you looking for him?"

"I need to tell him something important," Mei Li responded, about to show the lady the picture she was holding in her hand. "Wait," she said, pausing. She looked the woman over and started putting the pieces of the puzzle together. Her voice sounded so familiar, but she had just called Zhuge Liang her husband, which meant she was Yue Ying, if Li remembered correctly from the strategist's story he had told her about her parents. "You're Yue Ying." Li finally said.

"Yes, I am." She said. "And you're Mei Li, my husband's new apprentice."

"That's right," Mei Li said. "But then why do you seem – wait!" she said, suddenly remembering where she had seen Yue Ying before, besides at Shu. "You're the woman! The woman who took me home after my uncle died and who talked to my aunt and me about his death!"

Yue Ying blinked for a second, trying to remember the incident. "Ah, yes," she said, a smile forming on her face. "I was in the area around that time. So was my Zhuge Liang. He was inspecting the body of your uncle."

_"My husband is with the authorities, ma'am. Some experts examined the body, and they concluded that he died of a heat stroke." _Mei Li remembered her words exactly. Strange how these things came to her at the most random of times.

"What were you doing there?" Mei Li asked, thoroughly confused. Zhuge Liang just kept popping up in her life, didn't he? How many times had Li seen him before and not known it was he at the time?

"I'm guessing my husband told you the story of your parents by now?" Yue Ying asked. Mei Li nodded. "Well he was on his way to visit your aunt and uncle to check up on them. You know, see if maybe they had had any threats from your mother's murderer lately or something like that."

"They were threatened by the man?" Mei Li asked, taking the seat next to Yue Ying. She folded up her sketch and placed it on a small desk next to her. Being so caught up in the moment, Li had forgotten the urgent news she had for Zhuge Liang.

"Oh, yes, several times. He wanted to get to you, to see if you knew anything about the treasure. Especially when you were younger, and you would have those dreams. You often spoke of them to your aunt, but none of them pointed toward the treasure. Your aunt was worried about you, but at the time a child's nightmares were the last thing on our minds, so we didn't pay much attention to you."

_"When did you start talking like this again, Mei Li?" _

_Mei Li stared back at her. "What do you mean, 'again'?" _

_"Well, you were very young. I suppose you don't remember."_

So that's what her aunt had meant. She had dreams when she was much younger, and would tell her aunt about them, but her aunt was too busy being threatened by this man to have the time to worry about it.

"So, you're trying to tell me that you and Zhuge Liang have visited my aunt and uncle several times to make sure that they weren't being threatened by this man? And Zhuge Liang is still on the case, trying to catch the murderer?"

"Yes, that's correct," Yue Ying answered.

"How come I don't remember any of this?"

"Well, once you got older, we were afraid you'd start to piece everything together, and we didn't want you to worry about any of these adult problems. So we would come by very late at night while you were asleep in order to discuss it with your aunt and uncle."

"So … the man knows where my aunt lives," Mei Li said, suddenly getting scared. Right after her uncle died, she had run away and left her aunt all alone. For all she knew, her aunt could be dead right now. All her parent's money could be dug up right now, or maybe worse – maybe the man was following her, waiting for the opportune moment to spring. After all, he wanted that treasure, and he was convinced that Mei Li held the answer. She toyed with her locket. For all she knew, maybe she _did_ hold the answer.

"Yes he does. But I wouldn't worry about it, Li," Yue Ying said comfortingly. "Your aunt hasn't had a threat from this man for over seven years. For all we know he could have backed off by now."

"So this whole time you and Zhuge Liang have been a very important part of my safety and I didn't even know it." Mei Li said. "Did you recognize me when I came here to live?"

"Well, we thought it might be you, but we weren't sure. Like I said, we hadn't seen you in a long time, since the purpose of our nightly visits to your aunt and uncle were to discuss it with them, not you. Once my husband interrogated you, though, and found out it was definitely you, we decided you should know the truth."

"Well, thank you," Mei Li said. "I appreciate being let in on my own past," she added rather sarcastically. "Wait a second," Li said after thinking for a bit. "How come you were so formal with my aunt when you stopped by to tell us how my uncle died? How come I had to show you where I lived if you already knew?"

"If I acted like I already you knew people, you would start to get suspicious. And at the time we were still trying to keep your past a secret from you."

"See, that's what I don't understand." Mei Li said, standing up. "If you're trying to protect me so much, why aren't you letting me know what's going on? Why am I always left in the dark to go dream up some horrible future for my loved ones?"

"Li, it's nothing like that."

"That's what it sure sounds like!" Mei Li said, getting angry. "My whole life has been kept a secret from me. And it wasn't until I actually went and did something on my own until I was allowed to know something about it. I had to run away from it all in order for it to come back and bite me. Was I really so insignificant, that I had to run away in order for you to remember me and say, 'hey, maybe we should clue this girl in about the past sixteen years of her life!'?"

"Li, please –"

"No! Whatever it is you want me to think about or whatever, I don't care anymore. Maybe I'll go run away again, huh? Where would you be then, without your bait to catch this murdering man? If he hasn't shown his face for seven years then why does it still matter?"

"Mei Li, please calm down. We didn't want you to get hurt."

"No, you're hurting me _now_. I'll tell you where I won't get hurt; in a place called Wei with an arrogant woman and a girly butterfly man!" Mei Li stormed off in a fit of rage, forgetting all about the sketch of Guan Ping sitting folded up on a desk in the library. And poor Yue Ying was left to wonder what in the world Mei Li meant by "girly butterfly man".

Mei Li muttered to herself the entire time as she stormed back into her own room. She slammed the door behind her and sat down on her bed, her arms folded in a child-like manner, as if she were throwing a temper tantrum.

"And they were trying to _protect me_." Mei Li said mockingly to no one in particular. "Yeah, call keeping my entire life a secret from me and not letting me know that a murdering man is pursuing me … yeah that just about sums up 'protect', huh?"

It wasn't until two days later that Mei Li's temper tantrum caught up with her. Two days later, a young man came knocking on Mei Li's door one night after dinner. Mei Li stood up and answered it.

"Hi, I'm Jiang Wei, in case you don't remember me." The young man said.

"Hi," Mei Li said curtly. "And no, I don't remember you." Since she was still a little sore at Zhuge Liang and Yue Ying, she was taking it out on anyone that happened by her.

"Zhuge Liang sent me to you," Mei Li was about to close the door in his face at that comment, but he put his hand on the door to stop her. "Just listen to me, please? If not for the Prime Minister, then for your aunt's sake."

Mei Li paused, wondering what this Jiang Wei knew about her aunt. "Has something happened to my aunt, or did Zhuge Liang tell you to say that so I would listen?"

"Can I come in?"

"Sure," Mei Li said unenthusiastically. She forced herself to open the door and let this young man have a seat in one of the chairs in her room.

"Zhuge Liang wants you to know that you're acting very childish," he started off. "He knows it was unfair that your whole past should be kept a secret from you, but it was for the better."

"Before you get too deep into your story," Mei Li interrupted. "I'm just wondering; do you know the whole story yourself, or are you just repeating what Zhuge Liang said?"

Jiang Wei paused, uncertain if he should tell Mei Li how much he really did know. Finally, he responded by saying, "The Prime Minister told me the whole story so that I could be more understanding towards you. And, if you'll let me speak in my own words instead of Zhuge Liang's, I am very sorry."

Mei Li rolled her eyes. As if Jiang Wei would even begin to know how she was feeling.

"Look," Jiang Wei said, leaning toward her to get her attention. "I know what you're thinking. You think that I know nothing of what you're going through, and that I'm just Zhuge Liang's little guinea pig. Well, for your information, my life hasn't exactly been a walk in the park, either. I have my share of problems." He sat back in his seat. "I'm just trying to help make the peace between you and the Prime Minister so that this murdering man can be stopped." He paused, looking at her. "I wouldn't want you to get hurt." She stared at him for that last comment. "Nobody would," he hurriedly added, looking away and blushing slightly. "Especially after we're so close to the treasure, and so close to putting this whole ordeal behind us."

"I just want to know if anything has happened to my aunt," Mei Li said, not caring how Jiang Wei felt about her at the moment.

"Oh, yes," Jiang Wei said. "Well, Zhuge Liang told me to tell you that she had another encounter with the man the day your uncle died. And when you ran away, that scared her all the more. She thought the man had gotten you. Once you came to Shu, though, the Prime Minister was able to send a message to her that you were with us, safe and sound. But, in order to be safer herself, your aunt has traveled to stay with her daughter for a little while. The farm is being kept in the hands of one of your neighbors for the time being."

Mei Li sighed with relief at hearing this. Suddenly she didn't feel so bitter toward Zhuge Liang and Yue Ying anymore. The idea of her protection had finally started to sink into her head. And now that she knew her aunt was safe, well, that made everything a hundred times better.

"There is one more thing," Jiang Wei said, getting an uneasy tone in his voice. Li's heart beat started racing, and a familiar bad feeling started in her stomach and spread to the rest of her body.

"You've kept yourself locked up in your room so often lately that no one's had the chance to update you on anything, really. Guan Ping and Guan Yu, among others, left to defend Fan Castle yesterday."

Mei Li could only stare open mouthed at Jiang Wei.

"And Zhuge Liang was wondering if you knew anything about this, and what it means." Jiang Wei said, taking a folded up piece of paper out of his pocket and handing it to Mei Li. She unfolded it and saw the sketch of Guan Ping that she had left in the library the day she talked to Yue Ying. Realization hit Mei Li hard, and she knew if they died, it'd be her fault _for real_ this time. She could only think to herself one word that evening for being so selfish and forgetting about this young officer she liked so much:

_Idiot!_

* * *

**Thanks again to all my reviewers! Kudos to BlueSun91 for reviewing every single chapter so far! I probably wouldn't have kept writing the story if you didn't review all those times! I hope everyone enjoys it as much as those that review say they do. Keep a look out for chapter 13. **


	13. Chapter 13

**Whew! Chapter thirteen, all typed up and ready to go. **

Chapter Thirteen

Deciding to cast away whatever anger or bitterness she might still have against Zhuge Liang and Yue Ying, Mei Li clutched the sketch in her hands and stood up, saying, "Where's the Prime Minister, Jiang Wei? I need to see him now."

"I'm not sure," Jiang Wei said, standing up as well. "When he gave me orders to talk to you, he was in the peach garden. He might be there, or perhaps he went to the library to –"

"Alright, we'll check the library!" Mei Li said, grabbing the shocked young man's wrist and dragging him out the door with her. She pulled Jiang Wei behind her the entire time, letting go of him only when they reached the sanctuary of the library, where sure enough, sat Zhuge Liang, reading a book as usual. He heard the two thundering down the halls before he even saw them. Without looking up from the text he was reading, he said, "Hello Mei Li, Jiang Wei. Have you come to talk things over, Li?"

"No time for fancy talk, Zhuge Liang!" Mei Li said, shoving the sketch in the strategist's face. "I drew this of Guan Ping and Guan Yu the first day I got here. And look, they're defending a castle!"

"Yes," Zhuge Liang said. "It's a very nice picture. Looks a lot like Fan Castle, where the two are now. You have some skill. Tell me, why does this bother you?"

"I thought you wanted to know what it meant?" Mei Li said.

"I do, that's why I asked."

Mei Li sighed in exasperation. "But I thought you – never mind. Okay, well, I drew it the same day that I drew the way Pang Tong would die; riding Liu Bei's horse. Doesn't that seem a little suspicious? We already know I have dreams that tell the future, then when I sketch does that come to pass, too?"

"I'm not sure," Zhuge Liang said, taking the sketch from her and examining it more closely now that he understood the message she was trying to convey. "Perhaps you did dream this, but forgot when you woke up, and your unconscious mind was portraying it in the form of a picture."

"So, you mean, I subconsciously knew how they were going to die?"

"Perhaps," Zhuge Liang answered, still observing the picture. "It's only a theory, we can't be sure. But your dreams have always come to pass up to this point, so we must take precaution in the future."

"In the future?" Mei Li said. "What about right now? Guan Ping and Guan Yu are going to die out there at Fan Castle. We can't just … we have to do something, don't we?" Mei Li was starting to lose hope. She realized the two were already out there, and remembering what Zhuge Liang had said regarding Pang Tong's death, she knew his answer would probably imply that there was nothing they could do.

"We could send out some more reinforcements." Jiang Wei suggested, trying to be helpful.

"That's a good idea," Mei Li said, turning to the Prime Minister. "You could rally some troops and send them out right away to help."

"It's the least we can do," Zhuge Liang agreed with his two apprentices. "Jiang Wei, go assemble some troops right away. Give them the order and send them on their way."

"Yes, sir." Jiang Wei said doing a slight bow and then leaving the library.

Mei Li sat down next to Zhuge, knowing that even if the two warriors died in this battle, at least they tried. She turned to the strategist and said, "Sorry I've been so selfish lately. Looks like it's going to cost Shu two good generals, huh?"

"Not necessarily," Zhuge Liang said. "We haven't tried preventing the future before, but it might work this time."

"But if it doesn't," Mei Li said, beginning to believe there was no way to stop fate from happening. "it'll be all my fault."

"There you go again, Mei Li, blaming yourself." Zhuge Liang said. "How many times do I have to tell you that the future is not your fault?"

"But this time it's different," Li said. "Before I was just feeling sorry for myself and the loss of my loved ones. But this time I had the opportunity to tell you about the sketch when I first figured out. But instead I kept myself locked up in my room for two days, besides coming out for meals. And even at the table I didn't talk to anyone." She sighed. "The first time I spoke to someone in two days was when you finally sent Jiang Wei to talk some sense into me."

"You needed some time to think things over," the strategist replied. "Besides, maybe this whole thing happening just goes to show that you really don't have any control over what's going to happen, Mei Li."

"Then am I just supposed to sit back and watch my friends die?"

"I can't answer that for you, Mei Li." Zhuge Liang said. Mei Li scoffed. Typical Zhuge Liang answer when he didn't want to admit he was wrong or didn't know the answer.

"But you had to go and tell Jiang Wei my life story," Mei Li said. "Why does he have to be let in on everything?"

"He's a very understanding and sensitive young man," Zhuge Liang replied. "Not to mention he's very intelligent. You're not the only apprentice I have."

Mei Li was kind of surprised that Zhuge Liang had taken up a new apprentice. Or maybe he was already apprenticed to the Prime Minister before she got here. Either way, Mei Li didn't say anything.

"I was hoping if we told him all the details, he might be able to help and crack the case of the treasure, which we still haven't found yet."

"But we think the answer is in this locket," she said, removing the necklace and handing it to Zhuge Liang. He nodded in agreement. "Maybe we should try to crack it open now, while we're waiting for news of Fan Castle to come." Mei Li suggested.

"Are you sure you want to crack it open?" Zhuge Liang said, knowing the importance of the locket to Mei Li.

"Well, if it helps us find the treasure and thus lure this man into a trap …"

Zhuge Liang frowned, examining the locket. "Cracking it actually may not be such a good idea. You see, if we damage the locket, we may damage the inscription on the inside. Then we'll never know what it says, and it will all have been a waste."

"Good point," Mei Li said, reaching for the locket. Zhuge Liang handed it back to her and watched as she fastened it back around her neck. "But then again, the locket could be nothing in the hunt for the treasure. Maybe it doesn't hold a clue after all."

"That is also a good point," Zhuge Liang agreed with Mei Li. "But we'll never know until we try."

Mei Li stood up and left the library, still gripping the picture she had drawn of Guan Ping and Guan Yu. On her way back to her room, she stared at it with dry eyes. For some reason, no emotion came to her even though she was almost certain they would die. She paused as she came upon Xing Cai's room, staring at the door, wondering if she should knock on it and have a chat with the girl. She finally sucked in her breath and timidly knocked.

"Come in," Xing Cai yelled from within. Mei Li cautiously opened the door and went to sit on Xing Cai's bed next to her.

"Oh, hi Mei Li," Xing Cai said, wondering what this girl was doing in her room. "Why are you here?"

"We need to talk," Mei Li said. She handed Xing Cai the sketch of Guan Ping and his father. The girl took it in her own hands and stared at it for a second. Looking back at Mei Li, she gave her a quizzical look that read, "Why are you showing me this?"

Mei Li answered her question even though Xing Cai hadn't voiced it. "I drew that picture the day I came to Shu. The same day that I drew a picture of Pang Tong riding Liu Bei's horse, because I knew he would die that way."

Xing Cai looked confused and shocked all at the same time. "You mean to tell me you knew that Pang Tong would die that way?"

"Yes," Mei Li answered. "It's not like I wanted it to happen, it's just that I knew how it was to come about. I would explain it to you, but it's a long story." She paused for breath. "And I realized that that is how Guan Ping and Guan Yu are going to die … defending Fan Castle."

Xing Cai shook her head, "No…"

"But you have to believe me!" Mei Li said, getting anxious. "I know the future! Sometimes I don't always want to, but it comes to me in dreams. I didn't necessarily dream this one, but I drew it the same day I drew how Pang Tong was going to die. Don't you see? My subconscious mind knows thing that I don't. It's like it warns me or something." Li took on a softer tone as she continued. "And since I'm afraid that he's going to die soon, I just thought you would want to know, since Guan Ping is your best friend, after all."

Xing Cai was quiet for a long time. When she finally spoke, her voice cracked like she was about to cry. "I'm sorry, this is just a lot for me to take in all at once. I mean, not only Guan Ping and his father dying, but that you knew how Pang Tong would die, and that you have those dreams."

"I know," Mei Li said. "I know it's a lot. But … you know, why don't I just leave? I think it was a mistake for me to come in here and tell you this." Li stood up, leaving the picture with Xing Cai. "You can have that, if you want," she said, referring to the sketch. It was all bent up and crinkled from being folded and handled so many times. Xing Cai stared at it for a second, and before Li left the room, she said, "Thanks. Thanks for telling me. I don't think it was a mistake."

Mei Li walked down the hall the couple steps that it took her to get into her own room. When she got there, she was surprised to see Jiang Wei waiting. He was sitting with his head in his hands; Mei Li knew this couldn't be good.

"What's the matter?" she asked.

Upon hearing her voice, the young man looked up with tired eyes. He told her she might want to sit down for a bit. Mei Li swallowed hard, knowing this would not be good. After sitting down on the bed, Jiang Wei held down her wrists and stared straight into her eyes. After what seemed like forever, he finally said two words:

"They're dead."

Mei Li blinked. "What?"

"Guan Ping and Guan Yu are dead. They were executed at Fan Castle."

"But we sent the reinforcements not an hour ago. How can they – "

"They're dead, Li. Before we even had time to rally the troops a messenger came. They've been dead since early this morning."

Mei Li breathed in heavily and blinked back tears. She felt she had prepared herself for this and yet nothing could have prepared her for such a cold, hard slap of reality. Her face crumpled up and she looked like she was about to cry. But instead of water flowing forth from her eyes, she looked right back at Jiang Wei and said, "Why?"

He looked confused, about to ask what she meant, when she freed herself from his grip and stood up.

"Why does this happen to me?" she said. "Why does everyone I love have to die?" She stomped past Jiang Wei and stood at the doorway to the hall, not quite going out yet. "What did I ever do to you?" she said, shouting to no one, her head tilted back toward the ceiling. "Everyone that I was ever close to at all has to leave me here, all alone!"

"You're not alone, Li," Jiang Wei said, trying to calm her down as he ran toward her, seeing that she was going to make a move. "You've got me and Zhuge Liang. There's Xing Cai and Yue –"

Mei Li started running down the halls, her eyes half blinded by the tears she was crying. Hearing all the commotion, Xing Cai came out with a questioning look in her eyes. Jiang Wei turned to look at her, and that was all it took. Xing Cai saw the look in his eyes. He nodded at her, and she started sobbing, running back into her room, leaving poor Jiang Wei to decide who needed comfort most: Xing Cai or Mei Li.

Meanwhile, Mei Li had run out to the stables. She hid herself in one of the stalls with the horses and sat there to cry out her grief and anger. No one found her. She was out there for at least half an hour before a plan formulated in her mind, and she knew what she had to do.

* * *

**Aw poor Mei Li (not to mention Guan Ping, Guan Yu, Xing Cai...)! But what is this plan she has thought of? Find out in chapter 14! Just to give you a heads up, I'm aiming for say ... two or three more chapters before the story will be over. MAYBE four; we'll have to see how things go. Ah, you ask, but how can you wrap everything up in only four chapters? Well ... you'll have to read (and review!) to find out!**


	14. Chapter 14

**Sorry if this chappie is kind of short! Enjoy anyway. **

Chapter Fourteen

"Prime Minister!" Jiang Wei called out as he ran down the halls to the library, clutching a piece of paper in his hand. He was waving it about like a madman. "Prime Minister you have to see this!"

Normally Zhuge Liang would be outside in the peach garden around this time of day, but a light drizzle was falling outside, so he committed himself to the library. He was busy reading Sun Tzu's famous book, and a personal favorite, The Art of War, when he heard his young apprentice's calls echoing down the corridors. He found a good stopping place, and gently put the book down and folded his hands in his lap, awaiting Jiang Wei's arrival. Not two seconds after he did this did the young man come bursting through the library door.

"Prime Minister!" he said one last time, realizing that the man he was looking for was sitting right there. "It's Mei Li. She's run away, and she left us this note."

Zhuge Liang, though surprised, did not show any emotion on his face. He held out his hand to receive the note from his young apprentice. "Where did you find it?" he asked curiously.

"She had run somewhere after learning of Guan Ping's death yesterday. I couldn't find her, so I figured it would be best to let her be for a while. This morning I knocked on her bedroom door and when she didn't answer, I was afraid something had happened to her, so I opened it up myself and saw she wasn't there. The bed was neatly made, the room clean, and her things gone. Then I noticed this note sitting on her dresser. It's a page from her sketchpad that she must have used to write on."

Zhuge Liang gave Jiang Wei a brief look. He only asked a simple question and he got such a detailed answer that wasn't necessary. But that wasn't the problem at the moment, so Zhuge Liang focused his attention on the note in his hands. He began to read:

_To all my friends at Shu: _

_I'm sorry for leaving without really saying goodbye. But I've been the cause of three deaths and I wouldn't want to stick around and make it four. I leave you all with my best wishes. Don't worry about me, I know where I'm going and I have friends there, so all is well. I'm sorry, Zhuge Liang, that I cannot stay and help you find the treasure. I know that both you and Jiang Wei are smart enough to figure it out without my help. I enjoyed being your apprentice for the short time I was at Shu. Give my love to everyone there._

_--Mei Li_

_PS – I hope you don't mind; I took one of the horses_

Jiang Wei, having already read the note at least three times, turned to Zhuge Liang once he saw that the Prime Minister was done reading the note. He stared at him, waiting for his master to say something. When the man said nothing, Jiang Wei started talking.

"If she only left yesterday, we could probably track her down. And it'll be easier knowing that she has one of our horses. All we do is go into the stable, see which one is missing, and –"

"Jiang Wei," the Prime Minister interrupted. "I think it is best that we do not pursue Mei Li."

"What?" Jiang Wei exploded. Zhuge Liang was surprised at his sudden outburst. "Come on! She practically left us a trail! We could find her easily! We can't just abandon her. She left because she thinks she's the cause of all this trouble. We have to show her that she has friends here."

"She has friends wherever it is she's going," Zhuge Liang replied. "Her note said so. And I think Mei Li will be just fine. She's run away from home before; she knows what she's doing."

"But I –" Jiang Wei stopped himself before he said something he might regret. "I mean, she –"

"Don't let your personal feelings get in the way, Jiang Wei." Zhuge Liang said, his head turned down as he opened up his book to start reading again.

Jiang Wei blushed scarlet and said, "That's not what I was going to say. What I meant was, she has the locket, and the next clue to the treasure." When Zhuge Liang didn't say anything in response, Jiang Wei continued. "You've spent the last ten years of your life looking for the man who killed your best friend, Prime Minister. You're closer than you've ever been before to finding him, and you let the answer run away with a sixteen year old girl?"

Zhuge Liang thought about this rude comment made by his apprentice, and to Jiang Wei's surprise, he did not start to scold him and his forward behavior. Instead, Zhuge Liang pondered the subject for quite a time. Finally, he stood up and looked Jiang Wei in the eye. The young man could tell he had come to some grand conclusion as he said, "Not _with_ a sixteen year old girl; _as_ a sixteen year old girl."

------------------------------------

Mei Li rode faster than she thought the horse was capable of running, the rain pelting her and soaking her clothes that were heavy with rain. Though it was only a drizzle, Li had been riding long enough to get drenched, and riding fast enough to have the raindrops feel like tiny pebbles as they struck her skin. She was surprised that her blanket full of belongings hadn't broken open and fallen everywhere, the ride was so bumpy. She stroked the horse's mane as they rode on, trying to give it some comfort. She felt a tinge of regret as she realized that maybe she shouldn't have taken Liu Bei's horse; maybe she should have taken one that belonged to someone of a lower ranking. But she this was the horse Pang Tong had used, and it consoled her in an odd way to know that her friend had once ridden it.

Finding her way to Wei wasn't as hard as Mei Li might have thought. For one thing, the gypsies had been traveling the same route for years, so the wheels of their caravan had dug deep into the earth, leaving a permanent trail behind. And besides, Li knew that they traveled in one direction the entire time to get to Shu; all she had to do was travel in the opposite direction to get back to Wei. The only thing she was concerned about was how fast she would get there. This horse would not run forever, and it had taken twelve days rolling along in those gypsy caravans. Though the horse moved considerably faster than the caravans, it could only move so fast for so long. And since Mei Li had been in such a hurry to leave, she'd forgotten to take some food and drink from the kitchen with her. Her spirits lifted a little as she remembered she at least still had the money that her uncle had earned from Lei Lei with her.

As the horse thundered along, Li thought back to the recent events. First her uncle, then Pang Tong, then Guan Ping and Guan Yu had all died. Who would be next? Li hoped it was no one. But she knew there was no way to stop these dreams from happening, and once they did happen, there was no way to stop the future. It seemed as though her future was written in stone, and there was nothing she could do about it.

She thought back to the day that Zhuge Liang had admitted to her the story of her past. It had been so much different than what she liked to imagine it as. To think that her mother had married her father, intending to have him killed! She shuddered just to think about it. But she had to smile when she remembered that in the end, her mother had indeed fallen in love with her father. And their lives would have been just fine if that evil man still didn't love her mother. He had to come back and ruin everything. That made two things that ruined her life; this man and her dreams.

Trying to redirect her mind from such unpleasant thoughts, Li decided to play a game of a sort. She tried to guess what all her friends back at Shu would be doing right now. Zhuge Liang, no doubt, would be reading in the library; probably "The Art of War", seeing as that was his favorite book. Xing Cai might still be in her room, mourning over the loss of Guan Ping, her best friend. Li felt guilty for a second. Though she truly liked Guan Ping and wanted to be his girlfriend, she couldn't help but realize that Xing Cai had to be suffering much more than she, because she had known Guan Ping for far longer and had even been his best friend. And surely she would be lamenting the loss of Guan Yu as well, the tall and firm general. Though he hadn't said much to Mei Li, she always thought he had a friendly aura about him.

Yue Ying would either be in the library or the garden. Li decided to change that to just the library, seeing as it was raining outside. And Jiang Wei, what would he be doing? This was actually a tough one for Mei Li. She hadn't actually talked to him all that much up until a couple days ago, but he seemed nice enough. There were a lot of things he might be doing; reading in the library, in his own room doing something, comforting Xing Cai, agonizing over the sudden departure of Mei Li.

That last one came as a shock to Mei Li, but it sort of just popped into her head without much reason. She wondered why she had thought it in the first place. For the next several minutes, she found herself thinking about the young man who had tried so hard just to be understanding towards her. He really was a nice guy and she found that she –

_Wham!_ Something hit Mei Li hard across her head and she fell from the running horse to the ground, unconscious and covered in mud. A shadowy figure jumped out from the bushes, stopping the horse before it got away. The figure then proceeded to pick up Mei Li's belongings that had scattered with her when she fell, and tied them all back up together. It then picked up Mei Li, climbed up onto Liu Bei's horse, and started riding away into the night.

* * *

**Stay tuned for the exciting conclusion of "Secrets that Kill"! Yes I've decided to wrap it all up in the next chapter! It's going to be one, big, long SUPER chapter, but exciting nonetheless. Reviews are appreciated!**


	15. Chapter 15

**If any of you noticed, I changed the rating to T for safety because of what happens later in this chapter. See I wasn't sure if I should change it or not, so I did it just in case. Well, here is the final installment in this story! I hope you enjoy. Hm, the idea of a sequel crossed my mind, but I'm not sure if I have a plot idea for it yet. Anyway definitely let me know what you think of a sequel, this chapter, and the story overall! I'm so excited! **

Chapter Fifteen

A dejected Jiang Wei walked into Mei Li's room. He shuffled his feet along the floor, trying to convince himself that Li was really gone, and there was no going after her. He was still surprised that Zhuge Liang had decided to let the clues to the treasure just run away like that. And the Prime Minister had had such a revelation earlier in the library, and yet he refused to tell Jiang Wei what it meant. He had been in his room talking to Yue Ying for hours; no doubt about Mei Li.

He was about to leave, when out of the corner of his eye he saw something white sticking out beneath the Mei Li's bed. He walked over, bent down, and picked the object up, realizing what it was; Li's sketchpad. He leafed through it, looking at all the pictures Li had drawn. She really was talented at this sort of thing. He kept paging through until he came to the end of the sketches. He flipped over one more page, expecting to see it blank, when he realized Li had started writing a list of some sort. He read the title; "Lessons I've Been Taught". There were only four people on the page, Cai Lang, Zhen Ji, Zhang He, and Pang Tong, except there was a blank next to Pang Tong's name. He figured Mei Li hadn't decided what lesson she'd been taught by the man. It was an interesting concept, that everyone in life teaches you a lesson, and he sat down on Li's bed and started pondering the list. If he were to make a list, what and who would he put on it? He knew Zhuge Liang would be on it, but what had the strategist taught Jiang Wei? He thought back to what the Prime Minister had said in the library … _Not _with _a sixteen year old girl…_ His eyes widened and he realized what Zhuge Liang had been trying to say. He closed the sketchpad and left Mei Li's room still clutching the book, headed for the stables. The rain was picking up, but the ground was still soft and muddy. It wouldn't be too hard to find the horse's tracks and start following.

* * *

Li heard a groan escape her mouth as she slowly came back to consciousness. It took a second for her eyes to adjust to the setting of her surroundings, and for a second she thought she had been blinded. She racked her mind, trying to remember what had happened. She was riding along, thinking about Jiang Wei, when all of the sudden she woke up and was here. What happened?

Mei Li looked around. She was in a dark shed, and her head was throbbing. She tried to move, but to no avail; she had been tied up! A shadowy figure emerged from the darkness, and started coming closer, closer, his arms reaching out to grab her. He reached behind her head, Li's heart thumping. But instead of hurting her, he untied the gag that had previously been in her mouth.

"Hello," said a man's voice with a threateningly mocking tone to it.

Li cleared her throat, but didn't say anything. She was too scared. This situation reeked of danger. Maybe a robber or a bandit had caught her riding and saw her bundle, wanting to steal what was inside. Then why did he have her tied up in an abandoned old shed?

"Are you going to play dumb, or are we going to do some business?" he asked. Li had trouble identifying who it was, but he sounded familiar. Like a lightning bolt, it hit her. His voice, she had heard it in her dreams.

"Business?" Mei Li managed to say. Her voice squeaked and she sounded more scared than she meant.

"Heh, heh, heh." The man chuckled, obviously pleased that Mei Li was scared and oblivious to what was going on. "Look," he continued. "I think you and I both know what I'm talking about. Where is it?" his raspy voice demanded an answer from Mei Li.

"Where's what?" she asked. She could feel her heart pounding in her chest.

"You know what I'm talking about!"

"No I don't! Let me go! Untie me now!"

She was silenced with a blow to her cheek. She felt her face stinging as the man brought his hand back to his side. "Shut up!" he growled. "Now give me the treasure."

Treasure? Mei Li felt her face grow pale. So, this was _him_, the man who his mother had been in love with. And he had come to get her father's treasure.

"I know you know what I'm talking about." The man continued. "Your father always said you held the answer. Now tell me, where is his treasure, you little brat!"

"I swear I don't know," Mei Li said. "I was only six when you killed him. How should I remember?"

The man was disgruntled by her boldness. How did this girl figure out he had been the murderer? If she got away alive, she would turn him in for sure. He had to make sure that after he got the information, he got rid of her. He was determined to show her who was boss, and decided to do so by scaring her.

"Look, girly," he said, getting close to her face. His breath smelled putrid, and Mei Li wrinkled up her nose and titled her head back.

"I've been following you for longer than you know."

_She got out of bed to look out her window, and thought she saw someone creep across the yard. She blinked, and the shadowy figure was gone. It was just her imagination._

"And I would have killed you the night your uncle died…"

_She woke with a start. Something had thumped. She looked around in the dark with caution, waiting for something to move, or another noise to erupt from the night. Nothing happened._

"… but I accidentally hit my head on your windowsill and you woke up. I had another chance, too, while you were with the gypsy caravan…"

_Her peaceful thoughts were interrupted by a rustling heard in the bushes nearby. Li instinctively froze and held her breath._

"… but that lady Cai Lang came out to join you in the middle of the night, and my chances were ruined. I always hated Cai Lang. Your idiotic mother practically worshipped her; best friends, the two of them."

Mei Li licked her lips and swallowed hard. This whole time the man had been following her.

"And when you went to Shu with that Zhuge Liang, well, I knew I couldn't get near you with that creep around. He's been on my case for years. But then," he paused to laugh. "then you went and did the stupidest thing possible! You left Shu, you left the protection of that strategist, and here you are, my pretty, you walked straight into my hands!"

He continued after pausing for breath. "And no doubt Zhuge Liang told you all about this little treasure of your father's. So, now that we're both on the same page, I want you to tell me, nice and calm like, where the treasure is. See, you do that, and nobody gets hurt." _Except you_, he added to himself.

Mei Li knew that her locket held the answer. But she also knew that this man couldn't get his hands on that treasure. She thought desperately, waiting for some answer to come to her, some help to show her what to do.

"Look here missy," said the man, getting impatient. "I had to wait many hours for you to wake up in the first place! I'm not waiting any longer for you to tell me where the treasure is!"

At that moment, a banging was heard on the shed door. Both Mei Li and the man shot their heads in that direction, waiting for something to happen. Before the man could run over and stop whoever it was that was out there, the shed door flew open, the rain pouring into the shed now that it had developed into a thunderstorm. A silhouetted figure stood in the doorway, and let itself in. For a second Mei Li didn't recognize him, but then saw who it was; Jiang Wei!

She gasped with surprise. He had come to save her! He didn't bother asking any questions before he started talking.

"Untie her right now!" he yelled, and pulled out a dagger.

The man laughed. "What are you gonna do about it, runt?" He approached Jiang Wei. Before the young man could use the dagger, the man snatched it from him and punched him hard in the mouth. He fell to the ground, bleeding. Not giving Jiang Wei a chance to stand up, the man elbowed him hard in the back, causing him to fall from his position on his hands to lying on the floor. Making sure the job was done, the man hit him in the head with the blunt end of the dagger.

"Stop it!" Mei Li yelled the entire time he was beating up Jiang Wei. "Stop it this instant!" When the man delivered the final blow, Jiang Wei was lying on the floor, not moving. "You've killed him!" Mei Li screamed, tears streaming down her face.

"He got in my way," the man snarled. "And anybody who stops me from getting what I want, I kill. Same with you if you don't tell me where the treasure is."

Her face wet with tears, Mei Li saw that it was no use. Her hopes had been completely crushed, it was no use resisting anymore. This man had won.

"In the locket," she said, sniffing. "The answer to where the treasure is lies in the locket around my neck."

"Of course!" The man slapped himself for being an idiot. "The locket!" He reached around her neck and undid the chain, pulling it close to his face. He tried to open it, but with no success.

"What's wrong with this thing?" he asked.

"It's rusted shut," Mei Li answered, still crying. "You can't open it."

"What the – " the man said. "Then why the hell did you tell me the answer was in this thing?"

"Because it is!" she yelled back at him with a hoarse voice. "I know it is, I just can't remember what the inscription says! I haven't opened the thing up for years!"

"Well, I can fix that." He said. He took Jiang Wei's dagger and started picking at the locket. After many scratches and much deliberation, the man finally pried the locket open. He laughed with delight, opening it the rest of the way, and stared into the inscription. He read it, not aloud though. His face suddenly darkened and he scowled.

"You liar!" he yelled at Mei Li. He flung the locket down hard, causing it to break in half. "You said this thing would lead me to the treasure!"

"I – I thought it did," Mei Li stammered, seeing now this man was outraged. The man reached for his dagger and held it high. Mei Li closed her eyes and readied herself for the blow. But it never came.

When Mei Li opened her eyes, three things seemed to happen at once. The door to the shed flung open, a man jumped in, and the man holding the dagger turned and stared. After regaining his thoughts, the man with the dagger rushed at the man who had jumped into the shed.

"You filth!" the man said. "Untie that girl now!"

Mei Li recognized the voice and her spirits lifted. Zhang He!

The man made to stab Zhang He, but he dodged many times, punching the man in return. The man with the dagger grew so agitated, that he finally started waving the dagger around wildly, not caring if it hit Zhang He or not. The dagger was headed straight for his heart. Zhang He tried to move, but he was not fast enough. The dagger hit him in the left shoulder, and a pained moan escaped his lips.

The man, seeing he had finally hit Zhang He, started laughing maniacally and dug the dagger in deeper. Zhang He grunted and dropped to his knees, the pain almost too much to bear.

"I told you, I kill anyone who gets in my way!" the man said, staggering a bit from the bruises he had suffered from Zhang He. The man made as if to hit Zhang He one last time on the head to finish him off, but Zhang He's arm caught him before he could make contact. With his free arm, Zhang He pulled the dagger out of his shoulder, screaming in pain as he did so. The man watched in sheer surprise as Zhang He brought the dagger high above his hand and landed it in the man's heart. He fell to the ground, dead. Zhang He retrieved the dagger once more, and staggered over to where Mei Li was tied to a chair in stunned silence. With the bloodied weapon he started cutting Li's bonds.

"What are you doing here?" She asked when she gained her voice, questions spilling out a mile a minute. "Are you okay? We need to get some help now! How did you know I was here? Oh, thank you, thank you so much!"

"I was in a battle nearby …" he struggled to say the words, his wound hurting more every second. "… on my way back to Wei when I heard screaming coming … from this … shed." After he managed to cut Li's bonds, and a second later he found himself lying on the floor, barely conscious because of the amount of blood he had lost. Li kneeled over him, watching with tears in her eyes as he slowly slipped away.

"You gave me my locket back," she whispered. "I never got to say thank you."

"No problem," he said, and his eyes closed. A second later his breathing stopped and his head lolled to the side. He was gone.

"Zhang He?" Mei Li asked, still in shock of everything that had been going on in the last couple of hours. She looked at the floor, stained a deep red with his blood. She closed her eyes and held her breath, trying to hold back her emotion when she heard a groan from the far side of the shed.

Jiang Wei! She had forgotten all about him! She crawled over to where he lay, still alive. She turned him on his back, inspecting his mouth. It was covered in blood, but it had stopped bleeding at least. She carefully wiped off his mouth with a handkerchief she had in her pocket. Though a bit swollen, she could tell he was going to be all right. She took his hand in hers and started talking.

"Jiang Wei? Can you hear me?"

He groaned in response. "Are you okay?" she asked. He managed to nod his head. "Everything's going to be okay." She realized her heart was still pounding and her hand was shaking. "What are you doing here?"

He struggled to pull something out of a sack that he had carried on his back. "I found your sketchpad." He handed it to her. With a pathetic smile he continued. "I thought you might want it back."

She took the sketchpad in her hands that were still trembling. Smiling, she reached for the pencil she had in her pocket, and opened up to her list. She made a number five and put Guan Ping next to it. Thinking for a second, she started writing, "Tell someone when you love them, you never know when they might be gone." She smiled though, as she realized that though Guan Ping had taught her this lesson, and she did miss him, she no longer had feelings for him.

"Li, what are you writing?" Jiang Wei asked, still lying on the floor.

She was about to tell him about the list she had made when she thought back to the very words she had just written in her sketchpad. Leaning down close to him, she softly kissed him, knowing that his mouth was still swollen. When she pulled away, she looked in his eyes and said,

"I love you."

She leaned down for another kiss and he eagerly returned her affections.

* * *

When Jiang Wei was feeling better and could sit up, Mei Li went back over to poor Zhang He. He lay as still as death on the floor, and Li was once again faced with the fact that a close friend of hers had died. He had died in order to save her, and Li knew that was the greatest gift anyone could give her.

Jiang Wei crawled over to where she was on the floor, and looked at Zhang He. Though he didn't know who this man was, he started talking.

"We'll have to tell someone that he's here. We can't carry the body by ourselves."

"You're right," Mei Li said. "He deserves a proper burial, too. He killed that man that was after the treasure." She paused, having forgotten all about the treasure. "I wonder what he read in the locket that made him so mad. I wonder what the treasure is."

"It's you," Jiang Wei said.

"Me?" she said, turning to look at him.

"Zhuge Liang figured it out but didn't tell me. When I thought about it, I figured it out too. _You_ were your father's greatest treasure; his only child."

"That's why he was so mad," Mei Li said. "It makes sense now. He thought the treasure was something tangible, something he could get rich off of. But it was me." She went over to where the locket lay, broken in half on the floor. She picked it up and held the two pieces together. For the first time years, she read the inscription.

_To my Daughter, Mei Li. The Greatest Treasure in my Life._

She put the broken pieces into her pocket. She stood up and gathered up her sketchpad and the bundle of belongings that lay in the corner of the shed. The man had brought them here, too, luckily for Mei Li.

"Come on," she said, helping Jiang Wei get up. "We've got to get you back to Shu. You need some medical attention."

They walked outside and got on Liu Bei's horse together. Since Jiang Wei wasn't well enough to ride by himself on the horse he had ridden over, Mei Li had to do the steering for Liu Bei's horse while Jiang Wei held the reins to the other horse who slowly followed behind. Before they got too far, they met up with some Wei soldiers, and Mei Li explained what happened to Zhang He and where he was. The soldiers were shocked and wanted her to stay for explanation purposes, but she told them she had to get Jiang Wei back to Shu. She left them as they started running towards the old shed.

The rain had finally stopped, and many hours later, very early in the morning, Jiang Wei and Mei Li reached Shu. They clomped through the marketplace until they reached the big building where surely Zhuge Liang would be wondering about the two of them. Mei Li started talking to Jiang Wei, but noticed that he wasn't answering. He was leaning against her back, probably half asleep. Li smiled to herself and woke him up before they put the horses away in the stable and walked into the big building.

The two crept through the halls silently, trying not to wake anybody up. It was no use. Zhuge Liang and Yue Ying heard them from their position in the library where they had been worrying about the two and came out to meet them. They ran out and hugged both the young people for a long time, not saying anything. Mei Li closed her eyes and thought how happy Pang Tong would have been to see her come home after running away like that. Releasing herself from the hug with Yue Ying, she looked at the three people standing before her, and she thought of what she could fill in next to Pang Tong's name on her list; family comes in all shapes and sizes. _A family made up of friends _was what Pang Tong had said to her.

After smiling at each of them individually, she realized her wish she had made on the star that one day back at the gypsy caravan had come true. She gave Yue Ying and Zhuge Liang one more brief hug, then turned to Jiang Wei and let him kiss her. The family walked back into the library where no doubt a long discussion would take place. On the way there, as she held Jiang Wei's hand in hers, Mei Li smiled and two words crossed her mind.

_I'm home_.

* * *

**The End**


End file.
